today.nukz.net: Almanac

J.R.R. Tolkien 1892-1973

Events

1431 – Joan of Arc is handed over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
1496 – Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
1749 – Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
1749 – The first issue of Berlingske, Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, is published.
1777 – American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
1782 – Sylhet District in north-east Bangladesh is established
1815 – Austria, the United Kingdom, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
1823 – Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts is sworn in as the first president of the independent African Liberia.
1861 – American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States.
1868 – Meiji Restoration in Japan: The Tokugawa shogunate is abolished; agents of Satsuma and Choshu seize power.
1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
1888 – The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
1911 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroys the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan.
1919 – At the Paris Peace Conference, Emir Faisal of Iraq signs an agreement with Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann on the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East.
1925 – Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
1932 – Martial law is declared in Honduras to stop revolt by banana workers fired by United Fruit.
1933 – Minnie D. Craig becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the North Dakota House of Representatives, the first female to hold a Speaker position anywhere in the United States.
1938 – The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1944 – World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
1945 – World War II: Admiral Chester W Nimitz is placed in command of all U.S. Naval forces in preparation for planned assaults against Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japan.
1946 – Popular Canadian-American jockey George Woolf dies in a freak accident during a race; the annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award is created to honor him.
1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
1949 – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, is established.
1953 – Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, become the first mother and son to serve simultaneously in the U.S. Congress.
1956 – A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
1958 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
1959 – Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. State.
1959 – Separatists in the Maldives declare the establishment of the United Suvadive Republic.
1961 – The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1961 – The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, leaks radiation, killing three workers.
1961 – Finland's worst civilian aviation accident takes place when Aero Flight 311 crashes near Kvevlax, resulting in the deaths of all 25 people aboard.
1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
1976 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights comes into effect.
1977 – Apple Computer is incorporated.
1990 – Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
1993 – In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
1994 – More than seven million people from the former Apartheid Homelands, receive South African citizenship.
1996 – The Motorola StarTAC, the first flip phone and one of the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption, goes on sale.
1997 – The People's Republic of China announces it will spend $27.7 billion USD to fight erosion and pollution in the Yangtze and Yellow river valleys.
1999 – The Mars Polar Lander is launched.
1999 – Israel detains, and later expels, 14 members of Concerned Christians.
2004 – Flash Airlines Flight 604 crashes into the Red Sea, resulting in 148 deaths, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Egyptian history.

Births

106 BC – Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
1196 – Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
1698 – Pietro Metastasio, Italian poet (d. 1782)
1710 – Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
1719 – Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian (d. 1773)
1722 – Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
1760 – John Storm, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1835)
1778 – Antoni Melchior Fijalkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
1793 – Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist (d. 1880)
1802 – Charles Pelham Villiers, British House of Commons member (d. 1898)
1803 – Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright (d. 1857)
1806 – Henriette Sontag, German soprano (d. 1854)
1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, French geographer (d. 1897)
1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland (d. 1900)
1821 – Dragotin Dežman, Slovenian politician, archeologist and botanist (d. 1889)
1831 – Savitribai Phule, Indian social activist and educator (d. 1897)
1836 – Sakamoto Ryoma, Japanese revolutionary (d. 1867)
1840 – Father Damien, Flemish missionary (d. 1889)
1855 – Hubert Bland, British socialist (d. 1914)
1856 – R. C. Lehmann, English writer (d. 1929)
1861 – William Renshaw, British champion tennis player (d. 1904)
1862 – Sir Matthew Nathan, British Governor of Queensland (d. 1939)
1865 – Henry Lytton, British actor and opera singer (d. 1936)
1870 – Henry Handel Richardson, Australian author (d. 1946)
1873 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese businessman (d. 1957)
1875 – Alexandros Diomidis, Greek banker and politician (d. 1950)
1876 – Wilhelm Pieck, East Germany statesman (d. 1960)
1879 – Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
1883 – Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
1884 – Raoul von Koczalski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1948)
1885 – Harry Elkins Widener, American book collector and victim of the RMS Titanic sinking (d. 1912)
1886 – John Gould Fletcher, American poet and author (d. 1950)
1886 – Josephine Hull, American actress (d. 1957)
1887 – August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
1887 – Helen Parkhurst, American educator (d. 1973)
1892 – J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (d. 1973)
1894 – ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
1895 – Borys Lyatoshynsky, Ukrainian composer (d. 1968)
1897 – Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
1898 – Carlos Keller, Chilean fascist politician (d. 1974)
1900 – Donald J. Russell, North American railroad executive (d. 1985)
1901 – Ngô Ðình Di?m, South Vietnamese politician (d. 1963)
1905 – Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
1905 – Ray Milland, British actor (d. 1986)
1909 – Victor Borge, Danish entertainer (d. 2000)
1910 – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player (d. 2000)
1911 – John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
1912 – Renaude Lapointe, Canadian journalist and senator (d. 2002)
1912 – Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
1915 – Jack Levine, American painter (d. 2010)
1915 – Mady Rahl, German actress (d. 2009)
1916 – Maxene Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) (d. 1995)
1916 – Betty Furness, American actress (d. 1994)
1916 – Bernard Greenhouse, American cellist
1917 – Albert Mol, Dutch author, actor and TV personality (d. 2002)
1917 – Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
1917 – Vernon Walters, American military officer and diplomat (d. 2002)
1920 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician (d. 2001)
1921 – John Russell, American actor (d. 1991)
1922 – Ronald Smith, British pianist (d. 2004)
1922 – Bill Travers, British actor and director (d. 1994)
1923 – Hank Stram, American football coach (d. 2005)
1923 – Charles "Bud" Tingwell, Australian actor (d. 2009)
1924 – Doug Ellis, British entrepreneur
1924 – André Franquin, Belgian cartoonist (Gaston Lagaffe) (d. 1997)
1924 – Nell Rankin, American singer (d. 2005)
1925 – Jill Balcon, British actress (d. 2009)
1926 – W. Michael Blumenthal, American businessman, civil servant, and 64th United States Secretary of the Treasury
1926 – George Martin, British record producer
1929 – Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
1929 – Ernst Mahle, Brazilian composer
1930 – Mara Corday, American actress and model
1930 – Marcel Dubé, Quebec playwright
1930 – Robert Loggia, American actor
1932 – Dabney Coleman, American actor
1932 – Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
1932 – Tongolele, American-born Mexican dancer
1934 – Carla Hills, American jurist, civil servant, and 5th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
1935 – Raymond Garneau, French Canadian politician and businessman
1936 – David Vine, British sports commentator (d. 2009)
1937 – Seri Wangnaitham, Thai dancer and choreographer (d. 2007)
1939 – Nikos Alefantos, Greek football manager
1939 – Janice Crosio, Australian politician
1939 – Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
1939 – Ruben Reyes, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
1939 – Gene Summers, American musician
1941 – Van Dyke Parks, American musician
1942 – John Marsden, Australian lawyer, gay activist (d. 2006)
1942 – John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
1943 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish news anchor (d. 2009)
1944 – David Atherton, British conductor
1944 – Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian novelist, biographer
1945 – Stephen Stills, American musician
1946 – John Paul Jones, British musician (Led Zeppelin)
1946 – Cissy King, American entertainer
1949 – Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (d. 1965)
1950 – Victoria Principal, American actress
1951 – Gary Nairn, Australian politician
1952 – Gianfranco Fini, Italian politician
1952 – Jim Ross, American wrestling announcer
1953 – Justin Fleming, Australian playwright and writer
1954 – Dean Hart, Canadian wrestler (d. 1990)
1954 – Ned Lamont, American businessman and political figure
1954 – Ross the Boss, American guitarist
1955 – Palmolive, British musician (The Slits, The Raincoats)
1956 – Mel Gibson, American-Australian actor and director
1956 – Willy T. Ribbs, American race-car driver
1957 – Bojan Križ??, Slovenian skier
1958 – James J. Greco, American businessman
1958 – Shim Hyung-rae, South Korean filmmaker
1963 – Vic Grimes, American professional wrestler
1963 – Alex Wheatle, British novelist
1963 – Jerome Young, American professional wrestler
1964 – Bruce LaBruce, Canadian filmmaker
1965 – Steven A. LaChance, American Author
1966 – Martin Galway, Northern Ireland composer
1969 – Michael Schumacher, German seven-time world champion Formula 1 race driver
1969 – Gerda Weissensteiner, Italian bobsledder and luger
1970 – Christian Duguay, American comic actor
1970 – Mahaya Petrosian, Iranian actress
1970 – Matt Ross, American actor
1971 – Sarah Alexander, English actress
1971 – Cory Cross, Canadian ice-hockey player
1972 – Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
1972 – Nichole Nordeman, American singer
1974 – Robert-Jan Derksen, Dutch professional golfer
1974 – Alessandro Petacchi, Italian cyclist
1975 – Thomas Bangalter, French DJ (Daft Punk)
1975 – Jason Marsden, American actor
1975 – Danica McKellar, American actress
1976 – Angelos Basinas, Greek footballer
1976 – Alisen Down, Canadian actress
1976 – Dinara Drukarova, Russian actress
1976 – Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
1977 – Lee Bowyer, British footballer
1977 – A.J. Burnett, American baseball player
1977 – Mayumi Iizuka, Japanese voice actress (seiyu)
1977 – Michelle Stephenson, British singer (Spice Girls)
1978 – Liya Kebede, Ethiopian model
1978 – Kimberley Locke, American singer
1978 – Park Sol-mi, South Korean actress
1978 – Dominic Wood, English children's television presenter
1978 – Mike York, American ice hockey player
1979 – Chris Geddes, Canadian volleyball player
1979 – Dina Tersago, Miss Belgium 2001 and TV personality
1980 – Bryan Clay, American decathlete
1980 – Angela Ruggiero, American ice hockey player
1980 – David Tyree, American football player
1981 – Naresh Iyer, Indian singer
1981 – Eli Manning, American football player
1982 – Lasse Nilsson, Swedish footballer
1983 – Antti Arst, Estonian footballer
1984 – Billy Mehmet, Irish footballer
1985 – John David Booty, American football player
1985 – Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player
1985 – Evan Moore, American football player
1986 – Jessica O'Rourke, American footballer
1986 – Lloyd Polite, American R&B singer
1986 – Jacob Timpano, Australian footballer
1987 – Angela Fong, Canadian professional wrestler, model, cheerleader
1987 – Leonidas Panagopoulos, Greek footballer
1988 – Rodrigo de la Cadena, Mexican artist and performer
1989 – Alex D. Linz, American actor
1989 – Julia Nunes, American singer and ukulele player
1989 – Anya Rozova, Russian/American model
1991 – Jerson Cabral, Dutch footballer

Deaths

235 – Pope St. Anterus
323 – Jin Yuandi, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 276)
1098 – Walkelin, Norman bishop of Winchester
1322 – King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
1437 – Catherine of Valois, wife of Henry V of England (b. 1401)
1543 – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
1571 – Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1505)
1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, British astronomer (b. 1618)
1656 – Mathieu Molé, French statesman (b. 1584)
1670 – George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, British soldier (b. 1608)
1690 – Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
1701 – Prince Louis I of Monaco (b. 1642)
1743 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and designer (b. 1657)
1779 – Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (b. 1712)
1785 – Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
1795 – Josiah Wedgwood, British potter (b. 1730)
1813 – Bennelong, Aborigine interlocutor (b. c.1764)
1826 – Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
1871 – Kuriakose Elias Chavara, Indian Saint (b. 1805)
1875 – Pierre Larousse, French editor (b. 1817)
1882 – William Harrison Ainsworth, British novelist (b. 1805)
1895 – James Merritt Ives, American lithographer (b. 1824)
1903 – Alois Hitler, father of Adolf Hitler (b. 1837)
1911 – Alexandros Papadiamantis, Greek author (b. 1851)
1915 – James Elroy Flecker, British author (b. 1884)
1916 – Grenville M. Dodge, American Major General (b. 1831)
1922 – Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, German impostor who became famous as The Captain of Köpenick (Der Hauptmann von Köpenick) in 1906 (b. 1849)
1923 – Jaroslav Hašek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
1927 – Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
1931 – Joseph Joffre, French general (b. 1852)
1933 – Wilhelm Cuno, German staesman (b. 1876)
1933 – Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
1943 – F. M. Cornford, English classical scholar and poet (b. 1874)
1943 – Sir Walter James, Australian politician (b. 1863)
1944 – Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1873)
1945 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
1945 – Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski, Polish writer (b. 1879)
1946 – William Joyce, American propagandist (b. 1906)
1950 – Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
1956 – Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
1956 – Joseph Wirth, German statesman (b. 1876)
1959 – Edwin Muir, Orcadian poet, novelist and translator (b. 1887)
1962 – Hermann Lux, German footballer (b. 1893)
1967 – Mary Garden, British singer (b. 1874)
1967 – Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
1969 – Jean Focas, Greek-born astronomer (b. 1909)
1969 – Howard McNear, American actor (b. 1905)
1970 – Gladys Aylward, British missionary (b. 1902)
1974 – Gino Cervi, Italian actor (b. 1901)
1979 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
1980 – Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist (b. 1910)
1980 – Lucien Buysse, Belgian cyclist (b. 1892)
1980 – George Sutherland Fraser, Scottish poet and academic (b. 1915)
1981 – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (b. 1883)
1988 – Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
1988 – Joie Chitwood, American racing driver and stuntman (b. 1912)
1989 – Sergei Lvovich Sobolev, Russian mathematician (b. 1909)
1990 – Arthur Gold, American pianist (b. 1917)
1992 – Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
1993 – Johnny Most, American sports announcer (b. 1923)
1994 – Heather Sears, British actress (b. 1935)
2002 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican band leader (b. 1918)
2002 – Freddy Heineken, Dutch beer executive (b. 1923)
2003 – Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
2004 – Des Corcoran, Premier of South Australia (b. 1928)
2004 – Leon Wagner, American baseball player (b. 1934)
2005 – Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
2005 – JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
2005 – Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
2006 – Steve Rogers, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1954)
2006 – Bill Skate, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (b. 1954)
2007 – Janos Furst, Hungarian orchestral conductor (b. 1935)
2007 – Sergio Jiménez, Mexican actor (b. 1937)
2007 – Earl Reibel, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
2007 – William Verity Jr., American industrialist and 28th Secretary of Commerce (b. 1917)
2007 – Sir Cecil Walker, Northern Irish pilitician (b. 1924)
2007 – Michael Yeats, Irish barrister, politician and son of W.B. Yeats (b. 1921)
2008 – Aleksandr Abdulov, Russian actor (b. 1953)
2008 – Natasha Collins, British actress and television presenter (b. 1976)
2008 – Yo-Sam Choi, South Korean boxer (b. 1972)
2008 – Werner Dollinger, German politician and economist (b. 1918)
2009 – Betty Freeman, American philanthropist and photographer (b. 1921)
2009 – Pat Hingle, American actor (b. 1924)
2009 – Ulf G. Lindén, Swedish entrepreneur (b. 1937)
2009 – Hisayasu Nagata, Japanese politician (b. 1969)
2010 – Sir Ian Brownlie, British lawyer (b. 1932)
2010 – Mary Daly, American theologian and feminist scholar (b. 1928)
2010 – Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Chilean composer (b. 1925)
2011 – Fadil Hadžic, Croatian film director (b. 23 April 1922)