today.nukz.net: Almanac

George Gurdjieff 1887-1949

Events

532 – Nika riots in Constantinople.
888 – Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks.
1328 – Edward III of England marries Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault.
1435 – Sicut Dudum is promulgated by Pope Eugene IV about the enslaving of black natives in Canary Islands by Spanish natives.
1547 – Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey is sentenced to death.
1605 – The controversial play Eastward Hoe by Ben Jonson, George Chapman, and John Marston is performed, landing two of the authors in prison.
1607 – The Bank of Genoa fails after announcement of national bankruptcy in Spain.
1733 – James Oglethorpe and 130 colonists arrive in Charleston, South Carolina.
1785 – John Walter publishes the first issue of the Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times).
1797 – French Revolutionary Wars: A naval battle between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany ends with the French vessel running ashore, resulting in the death of over 900.
1815 – War of 1812: British troops capture Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state.
1822 – The design of the Greek flag is adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus.
1830 – The Great fire of New Orleans, Louisiana begins.
1832 – President Andrew Jackson writes to Vice President Martin Van Buren expressing his opposition to South Carolina's defiance of federal authority in the Nullification Crisis.
1840 – The steamship Lexington burns and sinks four miles off the coast of Long Island with the loss of 139 lives.
1842 – Dr. William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British East India Company Army during the First Anglo-Afghan War, becomes famous for being the sole survivor of an army of 4,500 men and 12,000 camp followers when he reaches the safety of a garrison in Jalalabad.
1847 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends the Mexican-American War in California.
1869 – National convention of black leaders meets in Washington D.C.
1893 – The Independent Labour Party of the United Kingdom holds its first meeting.
1893 – U.S. Marines land in Honolulu from the USS Boston to prevent the queen from abrogating the Bayonet Constitution.
1898 – Emile Zola's J'accuse exposes the Dreyfus affair.
1908 – The Rhoads Opera House fire in Boyertown, Pennsylvania kills 171 people.
1910 – The first public radio broadcast takes place; a live performance of the opera Cavalleria rusticana is sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1913 – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
1915 – An earthquake in Avezzano, Italy kills 29,800.
1934 – The Candidate of Science degree is established in the USSR.
1935 – A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3% of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.
1939 – The Black Friday bush fires burn 20,000 square kilometres of land in Australia, claiming the lives of 71 people.
1942 – Henry Ford patents a plastic automobile, which is 30% lighter than a regular car.
1942 – World War II: First use of aircraft ejection seat by a German test pilot in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.
1951 – First Indochina War: The Battle of Vinh Yen begins, which will end in a major victory for France.
1953 – Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen as President of Yugoslavia.
1953 – An article appears in Pravda accusing some of the most prestigious and prominent doctors, mostly Jews, in the Soviet Union of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership.
1958 – The Moroccan Liberation Army ambushes a Spanish patrol in the Battle of Edchera.
1964 – Anti-Muslim riots break out in Calcutta – resulting in 100 deaths.
1964 – Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland.
1966 – Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American Cabinet member by being appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
1968 – Johnny Cash performs live at Folsom Prison
1972 – Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong.
1974 – Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
1982 – Shortly after takeoff, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737 jet crashes into Washington, DC's 14th Street Bridge and falls into the Potomac River, killing 78 including four motorists.
1985 – A passenger train plunges into a ravine in Ethiopia, killing 428 in the worst railroad disaster in Africa.
1986 – A month-long violent struggle begins in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.
1990 – L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
1991 – Soviet Union troops attack Lithuanian independence supporters in Vilnius, killing 14 people and wounding 1000.
1993 – Space Shuttle program: Endeavour heads for space for the third time as STS-54 launches from the Kennedy Space Center.
2001 – An earthquake hits El Salvador, killing more than 800.

Births

1434 – King Henry II of Castile (d. 1379)
1505 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (d. 1571)
1562 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (d. 1601)
1596 – Jan van Goyen, Dutch painter (d. 1656)
1610 – Maria Anna of Austria, Electress of Bavaria (d. 1665)
1616 – Antoinette Bourignon, Flemish mystic (d. 1680)
1635 – Philipp Jakob Spener, German theologian (d. 1705)
1651 – Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, English politician (d. 1694)
1683 – Christoph Graupner, German composer (d. 1760)
1720 – Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer (d. 1808)
1749 – Friedrich Müller, painter and dramatist (d. 1825)
1777 – Elisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1820)
1787 – John Davis, 14th and 17th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1854)
1804 – Paul Gavarni, French caricaturist (d. 1866)
1805 – Thomas Dyer, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1862)
1808 – Salmon P. Chase, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1873)
1812 – Victor de Laprade, French poet and critic (d. 1883)
1832 – Horatio Alger, Jr., American minister and author (d. 1899)
1845 – Félix Tisserand, French Astronomer (d. 1896)
1858 – Oskar Minkowski, Biologist (d. 1931)
1859 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet (d. 1943)
1861 – Max Nonne, German neurologist (d. 1959)
1864 – Wilhelm Wien, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
1865 – Princess Marie of Orléans (d. 1908)
1866 – Vasily Kalinnikov, Russian composer (d. 1901)
1869 – Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (d. 1931)
1870 – Ross Granville Harrison, American biologist (d. 1959)
1878 – Lionel Groulx, Canadian nationalist (d. 1967)
1881 – Essington Lewis, Australian industrialist (d. 1961)
1883 – Prince Arthur of Connaught (d. 1938)
1884 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born singer and performer (d. 1966)
1885 – Alfred Fuller, Canadian businessman, The "Fuller Brush Man" (d. 1973)
1886 – Art Ross, Canadian ice hockey player and executive (d. 1964)
1887 – Gabriel Gabrio, French actor (d. 1946)
1887 – George Gurdjieff, Georgian-Armenian-Greek mystic (d. 1949)
1890 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian Prime Minister (d. 1945)
1893 – Roy Cazaly, Australian rules footballer (d. 1963)
1893 – Clark Ashton Smith, American writer (d. 1961)
1898 – Kai Munk, Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor, martyr (d. 1944)
1898 – Carlo Tagliabue, Italian baritone (d. 1978)
1901 – A. B. Guthrie, American novelist, historian (d. 1991)
1901 – Mieczyslaw Zywczynski, Polish historian and priest (d. 1978)
1904 – Richard Addinsell, British composer (Warsaw Concerto) (d. 1977)
1905 – Kay Francis, American actress (d. 1968)
1906 – Zhou Youguang, Chinese linguist
1909 – Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist (d. 1934)
1910 – Yannis Tsarouchis, Greek painter (d. 1989)
1911 – Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, Premier of Queensland (d. 2005)
1913 – Jeff Morrow, American actor (d. 1993)
1914 – Lord Ted Willis, British television dramatist (d. 1992)
1919 – Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)
1921 – Dachine Rainer, British writer (d. 2000)
1922 – Albert Lamorisse, French film director and producer (d. 1970)
1923 – Daniil Shafran, Russian cellist (d. 1997)
1924 – Paul Feyerabend, Austrian-born philosopher (d. 1994)
1924 – Roland Petit, French choreographer (d. 2011)
1925 – Georgi Kaloyanchev, Bulgarian actor
1925 – Gwen Verdon, American actress and dancer (d. 2000)
1926 – Michael Bond, British writer
1926 – Carolyn Gold Heilbrun, American feminist author (d. 2003)
1927 – Brock Adams, American politician (d. 2004)
1927 – Sydney Brenner, British Nobel Laureate
1929 – Joe Pass, U.S. jazz guitarist (d. 1994)
1930 – Liz Anderson, American singer
1930 – Frances Sternhagen, American actress
1931 – Ian Hendry, English actor (d. 1984)
1931 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American actor (d. 2007)
1931 – Chris Wiggins, British actor
1932 – Barry Bishop, American mountaineer (d. 1994)
1934 – Rip Taylor, American actor
1935 – Mauro Forghieri, Italian automotive & mechanical engineer (Scuderia Ferrari)
1935 – Elsa Martinelli, Italian actress
1936 – Renato Bruson, Italian operatic baritone
1938 – William B. Davis, Canadian actor
1938 – Tord Grip, Swedish football manager
1938 – Shivkumar Sharma, santoor player, music composer
1939 – Jacek Gmoch, Polish footballer and coach
1939 – Cesare Maniago, Canadian ice hockey player
1940 – Edmund White, American author
1941 – Pasqual Maragall, Spanish politician
1942 – Carol Cleveland, English actress
1943 – Richard Moll, American actor
1946 – Eero Koivistoinen, Finnish musician
1947 – John Lees, English Musician
1947 – Jacek Majchrowski, Mayor of Kraków
1947 – Carles Rexach, former Spanish-Catalan footballer and coach
1948 – Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur
1949 – Klaus Brandner, German politician
1949 – Rakesh Sharma, first Indian and 138th person to visit space
1949 – Brandon Tartikoff, American television executive (d. 1997)
1950 – Bob Forsch, American baseball player
1950 – John McNaughton, American film director
1951 – Frank E. Peretti, author of Christian fiction
1954 – Trevor Rabin, South African guitarist (Yes)
1955 – Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter
1955 – Jay McInerney, American writer
1956 – Janet Hubert-Whitten, American actress
1957 – Lorrie Moore, American writer
1957 – Mark O'Meara, Major winning American Golfer
1959 – James Lomenzo, American musician (Megadeth)
1960 – Takis Lemonis, Greek footballer and coach
1961 – Wayne Coyne, American singer (The Flaming Lips)
1961 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress
1961 – Kelly Hrudey, Canadian ice hockey player
1961 – Suggs, English singer (Madness)
1962 – Trace Adkins, American country music singer-songwriter
1962 – Paul Higgins, Canadian hockey player
1962 – Kevin Mitchell, American baseball player
1963 – Kevin McClatchy, American businessman
1964 – Bill Bailey, British comedian
1964 – Penelope Ann Miller, American actress
1964 – Ronan Rafferty, Northern Irish golfer
1966 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor
1966 – Shelagh Fogarty, British radio presenter
1967 – Annie Jones, Australian actress
1968 – Traci Bingham, American actress
1968 – Chara, Japanese singer and actress
1968 – Mike Whitlow, English footballer
1969 – Stefania Belmondo, Italian cross-country skier
1969 – Stephen Hendry, Scottish snooker player
1970 – Keith Coogan, American actor
1970 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
1970 – Shonda Rhimes, American screenwriter/creator (Grey's Anatomy)
1971 – John Mallory Asher, American film actor/director
1971 – Phil Whyman, English paranormal researcher, television personality, writer and musician
1972 – Mark Bosnich, Australian footballer
1972 – Nicole Eggert, American actress
1972 – James O'Brien, British radio presenter and journalist
1972 – Atoosa Rubenstein, Iranian-born American magazine editor
1972 – Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
1972 – Park Jin-Young, Korean singer
1973 – Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian ice hockey player
1973 – Gloria Yip, Hong Kong actor
1974 – Sergei Brylin, Russian ice hockey player
1976 – Michael Peña, American actor
1976 – Tania Vicent, Canadian short track speed skater
1976 – Mario Yepes, Colombian footballer
1977 – Orlando Bloom, English actor
1977 – James Posey, American basketball player
1977 – William Ash (actor), British actor
1978 – Ashmit Patel, Indian actor
1980 – Krzysztof Czerwinski, Polish conductor and organist
1980 – Nils-Eric Johansson, Swedish footballer
1980 – Akira Kaji, Japanese footballer
1980 – Michael Rupp, American ice hockey player
1981 – Reggie Brown, American football player
1981 – Shad Gaspard, American professional wrestler, bodyguard, and actor
1981 – Jason James, Welsh bassist
1981 – Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
1982 – Kamran Akmal, Pakistan cricketer
1982 – Guillermo Coria, Argentine tennis player
1983 – William Hung, American Idol contestant
1983 – Sebastian Kneißl, German footballer
1983 – Julian Morris, English actor
1983 – Ronny Turiaf, French basketball player
1984 – Matteo Cavagna, Italian footballer
1984 – Nathaniel Motte, American musician (3OH!3)
1985 – Qi Hui, Chinese swimmer
1986 – Laura Ludwig, German beach volleyball player
1986 – Joannie Rochette, Canadian figure skater
1987 – Stefano Del Sante, Italian footballer
1987 – Lee Seung Gi, South Korean singer
1987 – Daniel Oss, Italian cyclist
1987 – Alexandre Pliuschin, Moldovan cyclist
1987 – Marc Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Sven Wetzel, German rugby player
1988 – Josh Freeman, American football player
1989 – Bryan Arguez, American footballer
1989 – James Berrett, English footballer
1989 – Triinu Kivilaan, Estonian singer
1989 – Tim Matavž, Slovenian footballer
1990 – Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor
1991 – Goo Ha-ra, South Korean singer/actress/MC
1992 – Adam Matthews, Welsh footballer
1995 – Qaasim Middleton, American musician and actor

Deaths

86 BC – Gaius Marius, Roman general and politician (b. 157 BC)
614 – Saint Kentigern (Saint Mungo), patron saint of Glasgow
703 – Empress Jito of Japan (b. 645)
858 – King Ethelwulf of Wessex (b. 795)
888 – Charles the Fat, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 839)
1138 – Simon I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1076)
1151 – Abbot Suger, French statesman and historian (b. 1081)
1177 – Henry II of Austria (b. 1107)
1330 – Frederick I of Austria (b. 1286)
1363 – Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol (b. 1344)
1599 – Edmund Spenser, English poet (b. 1552)
1625 – Jan Brueghel the Elder, Flemish painter (b. 1568)
1630 – Yuan Chonghuan, Chinese military commander (b. 1584)
1658 – Edward Sexby, English Puritan soldier (b. 1616)
1691 – George Fox, English founder of Quakerism (b. 1624)
1717 – Maria Sibylla Merian, naturalist and scientific illustrator (b. 1647)
1766 – King Frederick V of Denmark (b. 1723)
1775 – Johann Georg Walch, German theologian (b. 1693)
1790 – Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen, French admiral (b. 1712)
1796 – John H. D. Anderson, Scottish scientist and inventor (b. 1726)
1797 – Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, wife of Frederick II of Prussia (b. 1715)
1832 – Thomas Lord, English cricketer, founder of Lord's cricket ground (b. 1755)
1838 – Ferdinand Ries, German composer (b. 1784)
1852 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer (b. 1778)
1853 – Theophilos Kairis, Greek priest, humanist and revolutionary (b. 1783)
1860 – William Mason, American politician (b. 1786)
1864 – Stephen Foster, American composer (b. 1826)
1882 – Wilhelm Mauser, German weapon designer and manufacturer (b. 1834)
1885 – Schuyler Colfax, American politician (b. 1823)
1889 – Solomon Bundy, American politician (b. 1823)
1894 – Nadezhda von Meck, Russian patroness of Pyotr Tchaikovsky (b. 1831)
1905 – George Thorn, Premier of Queensland (b. 1838)
1906 – Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist (b. 1859)
1915 – Mary Slessor, Scottish missionary (b. 1848)
1923 – Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (b. 1842)
1924 – Georg Hermann Quincke, German physicist (b. 1834)
1928 – Mara Buneva, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1902}
1929 – Wyatt Earp, American Western lawman (b. 1848)
1929 – H. B. Higgins, Australian politician and judge (b. 1851)
1932 – Sophia of Prussia, consort of Constantine I of Greece (b. 1870)
1934 – Paul Ulrich Villard, French physicist (b. 1860)
1941 – James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)
1943 – Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Swiss artist (b. 1889)
1956 – Lyonel Feininger, German-American painter and caricaturist (b. 1871)
1958 – Jesse L. Lasky, American film producer (b. 1880)
1962 – Ernie Kovacs, American actor and comedian (b. 1919)
1967 – Anatole de Grunwald, British producer and screenwriter (b. 1910)
1971 – Robert Still, English composer (b. 1910)
1974 – Raoul Jobin, Canadian tenor (b. 1906)
1974 – Salvador Novo, Mexican writer and poet (b. 1904)
1976 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (b. 1922)
1977 – Henri Langlois, French film archivist, and a co-founder of the Cinémathèque Française (b. 1914)
1978 – Hubert H. Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the United States (b. 1911)
1978 – Joe McCarthy, American baseball manager (b. 1887)
1979 – Donny Hathaway, American musician (b. 1945)
1979 – Marjorie Lawrence, Australian soprano (b. 1907)
1980 – André Kostelanetz, Russian-born music conductor and arranger (b. 1901)
1982 – Marcel Camus, French director (b. 1912)
1988 – Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
1993 – Camargo Guarnieri, Brazilian composer (b. 1907)
1995 – Max Harris, Australian poet, columnist and publisher (b. 1921)
2001 – Michael Cuccione, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1985)
2002 – Ted Demme, American film director (b. 1963)
2002 – Gregorio Fuentes, Cuban fisherman, Ernest Hemingway's first mate (b. 1897)
2002 – Frank Shuster, Canadian comedian (b. 1916)
2003 – Norman Panama, American screenwriter and director (b. 1914)
2004 – Arne Næss Jr., Norwegian mountain climber (b. 1937)
2004 – Harold Shipman, British serial killer (b. 1946)
2004 – Zeno Vendler, American philosopher of language (b. 1921)
2005 – Earl Cameron, Canadian broadcaster (b. 1915)
2005 – Nell Rankin, American mezzo-soprano (b. 1924)
2006 – Frank Fixaris, American sportscaster (b. 1934)
2006 – Marc Potvin, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1967)
2007 – Michael Brecker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1949)
2007 – Danny Oakes, American racecar driver (b. 1911)
2008 – Sergei Larin, Lithuanian tenor (b. 1956)
2008 – Johnny Podres, American baseball player (b. 1932)
2009 – Doña Mary Ejercito, Filipino supercentarian, mother of Joseph Ejercito Estrada (b. 1905)
2009 – Dai Llewellyn Welsh socialite
2009 – Patrick McGoohan, American actor (b. 1928)
2009 – Mansour Rahbani, Lebanese composer and lyricist (b. 1925)
2009 – Nancy Bird Walton, Australian aviator (b. 1915)
2009 – William De Witt Snodgrass, American poet under the pseudonym S. S. Gardons (b. 1926)
2010 – Teddy Pendergrass, American R&B singer (b. 1950)
2010 – Jay Reatard, American garage punk musician (b. 1980)
2010 – Kalifa Tillisi, Libyan writer and linguist (b. 1930)