today.nukz.net: Almanac

Jimmy Durante 1893-1980

Events

1258 – Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed.
1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, his leading political rival, sparking revolution in the Scottish Wars of Independence
1355 – The St. Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
1567 – An explosion destroys the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland. The second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, Lord Darnley is found strangled, in what many believe to be an assassination.
1763 – French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
1798 – Louis Alexandre Berthier invades Rome, proclaims a Roman Republic on February 15 and then on February 20 takes Pope Pius VI prisoner.
1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Champaubert
1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon – British defeat Sikhs in final battle of the war
1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
1863 – The fire extinguisher is patented.
1870 – The YWCA is founded in New York City.
1906 – HMS Dreadnought is launched.
1920 – Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas.
1933 – The New York City-based Postal Telegraph Company introduces the first singing telegram.
1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf, killing him.
1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
1942 – Japanese submarine bombards Midway Atoll.
1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
1947 – Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia.
1954 – President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
1962 – Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
1964 – Melbourne-Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.
1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
1981 – A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.
1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
1996 – The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov for the first time.
1998 – Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
2005 – North Korea announces that it possesses nuclear weapons.
2009 – The communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.

Births

1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss humanist (d. 1582)
1524 – Albrecht Giese, German politician and diplomat (d. 1580)
1606 – Christine Marie of France, regent of Savoy (d. 1663)
1609 – John Suckling, English poet (d. 1642)
1685 – Aaron Hill, English writer (d. 1750)
1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German baroque composer and violinist (d. 1765)
1744 – William Cornwallis, Royal Navy admiral (d.1819)
1775 – Charles Lamb, English essayist (d. 1834)
1783 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (d. 1873)
1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist (d. 1836)
1795 – Ary Scheffer, French painter (d. 1858)
1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, British politician and social reformer
1846 – Charles Beresford, British admiral and politician (d. 1919)
1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist (d. 1927)
1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, famous Bengali poet (d. 1909)
1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French politician (d. 1943)
1868 – Prince Waldemar of Prussia, son of Emperor Frederick III (d. 1879)
1884 – Frederick Hawksworth, British railroad mechanical engineer (d. 1976)
1890 –Fanny Kaplan, Russian political revolutionary and attempted assassin of Vladimir Lenin (d. 1918)
1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1960)
1892 – Alan Hale Sr., American actor (d. 1950)
1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor and comedian (d. 1980)
1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player (d. 1953)
1894 – Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1957-1963 (d. 1986)
1897 – Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (d. 1992)
1897 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1985)
1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German author (d. 1956)
1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and novelist (d. 1979)
1901 – Stella Adler, American actress (d. 1992)
1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, American physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1987)
1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German physician (d. 1948)
1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (d. 1939)
1904 – John Farrow, American film director (d. 1963)
1905 – Walter A. Brown, American professional sports team owner and executive (d. 1964)
1905 – William Henry "Chick" Webb, American drummer and swing band leader (d. 1939)
1906 – Lon Chaney Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
1906 – Erik Rhodes, American actor (d. 1990)
1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and music educator (d. 2000)
1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (d. 1969)
1910 – Sofia Vembo, Greek singer and actress (d. 1978)
1913 – Douglas Slocombe, British cinematographer
1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player (d. 2001)
1920 – Alex Comfort, British physician and writer (d. 2000)
1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish writer (d. 2001)
1922 – Árpád Göncz, former President of Hungary
1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian hockey player and executive (d. 2005)
1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director
1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Northern Irish footballer (d. 1993)
1927 – Leontyne Price, American soprano
1927 – Brian Priestman, British conductor
1927 – William Tetley, Canadian professor of law and politician
1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer (d. 2004)
1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator of children's and young adult fiction
1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor
1931 – Doug Young, American voice actor
1933 – Richard Schickel, American film critic
1934 – Fleur Adcock, New Zealand poet
1935 – John Alcorn, American designer and illustrator (d. 1992)
1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer
1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer
1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Canadian politician
1939 – Peter Purves, British actor and television presenter
1940 – Kenny Rankin, American pop and jazz singer and songwriter (d. 2009)
1940 – Mary Rand, British athlete, former world record holder in the long jump
1941 – Michael Apted, British director
1943 – Ral Donner, American singer (d. 1984)
1943 – Bill Laskey, American football player
1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer and actor (d. 1992)
1944 – Frank Keating, American politician and 25th Governor of Oklahoma
1944 – Frances Moore Lappe, American writer and activist
1944 – Rufus Reid, American jazz bassist
1944 – Vernor Vinge, American novelist
1946 – Eliot Wald, American comedy writer
1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian jurist
1947 – Butch Morris, American jazz cornetist and composer
1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
1948 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (d. 1994)
1949 – Jim Corcoran, Canadian singer and songwriter
1949 – Maxime Le Forestier, French singer
1949 – Nigel Olsson, English drummer
1949 – Harold Sylvester, American actor
1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
1951 – Robert Iger, American entertainment executive
1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean politician
1954 – Larry McWilliams, American baseball player
1955 – Christopher Adams, British wrestler and judoka (d. 2001)
1955 – Jim Cramer, American television personality
1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer
1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician and diplomat
1958 – Michael Weiss, American jazz pianist
1959 – John Calipari, American basketball coach
1959 – Dennis Gentry, American football player
1959 – Lisa McPherson, American Scientologist (d. 1995)
1960 – Robert Addie, British actor (d. 2003)
1961 – Alexander Payne, American film director
1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American political commentator
1962 – Cliff Burton, American bass player (Metallica) (d. 1986)
1962 – Bobby Czyz, American boxer
1962 – Piero Pelù, Italian singer and songwriter (Litfiba)
1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
1963 – Philip Glenister, English actor
1964 – Glenn Beck, American author, radio and television host
1964 – Victor Davis, Canadian swimmer (d. 1989)
1964 – Arthur Lenk, Israeli diplomat
1964 – Francesca Neri, Italian actress
1965 – Mario Jean, Quebec comedian and television actor
1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player
1966 – Ioannis Kalitzakis, Greek footballer
1967 – Laura Dern, American actress
1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist
1967 – Ivan Francescato, Italian rugby player (d. 1999)
1967 – Armand Serrano, Filipino animator
1968 – Matthias Hamann, German footballer
1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player
1968 – Garrett Reisman, American astronaut
1968 – Atika Suri, Indonesian television newscaster
1969 – Laurie Dhue, American television personality
1969 – Joe Mangrum, American artist
1970 – Alberto Castillo, Dominican baseball player
1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian TV personality
1970 – Nobushige Kumakubo, Japanese racing driver
1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan footballer
1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist
1971 – Louie Spicolli, American wrestler (d. 1998)
1971 – Lisa Marie Varon, American wrestler
1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress
1974 – Ty Law, American football player
1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer
1974 – Tanoai Reed, American stunt performer
1975 – Hiroki Kuroda, Japanese baseball player
1975 – Kool Savas, German rapper
1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player
1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
1976 – Vedran Runje, Croatian footballer
1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
1978 – Lorna Bailey, English ceramic designer
1978 – Don Omar, Puerto Rican singer
1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
1979 – Jumaine Jones, American basketball player
1979 – Daryl Palumbo, American musician
1979 – Ross Powers, American snowboarder
1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Bruno Sundov, Croatian basketball player
1981 – Andrew Johnson, English footballer
1981 – Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer
1981 – Holly Willoughby, British TV presenter
1982 – Keith Dunne, Irish footballer
1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby league player
1983 – Bless, Canadian rapper
1983 – Daiane dos Santos, Brazilian gymnast
1983 – James Ryan, New Zealand rugby player
1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
1986 – Yui Ichikawa, Japanese actress and model
1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
1987 – Choi Siwon, South Korean singer (Super Junior)
1987 – Erin Burger, South African netballer
1989 – Bunmi Mojekwu, British actress
1990 – Sooyoung (Choi Soo-young), South Korean singer (Girls' Generation)
1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress
1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
1994 – Makenzie Vega, American actress
1995 – Haruna Kawaguchi, Japanese model and actress
1996 – Christina Parie, Australian singer/songwriter
1997 – Chloë Moretz, American actress

Deaths

1126 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
1162 – King Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
1242 – Emperor Shijo of Japan (b. 1231)
1278 – Margaret II of Flanders (b. 1202)
1576 – Guilielmus Xylander, German classical scholar (b. 1532)
1645 – Dorothea Sophia, Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1587)
1686 – William Dugdale, English antiquarian (b. 1605)
1722 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (b. 1682)
1755 – Montesquieu, French writer (b. 1689)
1758 – Thomas Ripley, English architect (b. 1682)
1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian (b. 1702)
1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and novelist (b. 1799)
1857 – David Thompson, Canadian explorer (b. 1770)
1865 – Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (b. 1804)
1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (b. 1850)
1904 – John A. Roche, American politician (b. 1844)
1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
1912 – Joseph Lister, British surgeon (b. 1827)
1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek athlete and Olympic champion (b. 1888)
1917 – John William Waterhouse, Italian-born artist (b. 1849)
1918 – Abdul Hamid II Ottoman Sultan (b. 1842)
1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1833)
1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1845)
1932 – Edgar Wallace, English novelist and screenwriter (b. 1875)
1939 – Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
1944 – Eugène Michel Antoniadi, Greek astronomer (b. 1870)
1945 – Anacleto Diaz, Filipino jurist (b. 1878)
1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (b. 1872)
1952 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, British-American biochemist (b. 1880)
1956 – Wilbert Coffin, Canadian prospector convicted of murder of 3 American hunters (b. 1915)
1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician (b. 1882)
1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
1964 – Eugen Sänger, Austrian aerospace engineer (b. 1905)
1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and band leader (b. 1899)
1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet and writer (b. 1910)
1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Yugoslav communist leader (b. 1910)
1984 – David Von Erich, American professional wrestler (b. 1958)
1985 – Johnny Mokan, baseball player (b. 1895)
1987 – Syed Sadequain Ahmed Naqvi, Pakistani calligrapher and artist (b. 1930)
1990 – Bill Sherwood, American filmmaker/composer (b. 1952)
1992 – Alex Haley, American author (b. 1921)
1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand ophthalmologist (b. 1929)
1995 – Paul Monette, American author and gay rights activist (b. 1945)
1997 – Matthew Eappen of Newton Massachusetts (b. 1996)
1998 – Yorgos Vrasivanopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1924)
2000 – Jim Varney, American actor (b. 1949)
2001 – Abraham Beame, American politician (b. 1906)
2001 – George Holmes "Buddy" Tate, American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist (b. 1913)
2002 – Traudl Junge, Adolf Hitler's secretary (b. 1920)
2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American folk singer/songwriter (b. 1936)
2003 – Edgar de Evia, American photographer (b. 1910)
2003 – Curt Hennig, American professional wrestler (b. 1959)
2003 – Clark MacGregor, American politician (b. 1922)
2003 – Al Ruffo, American politician (b. 1908)
2003 – Ron Ziegler, American press secretary to Richard Nixon (b. 1939)
2004 – Guy Provost, Quebec actor (b. 1925)
2005 – Arthur Miller, American playwright (b. 1915)
2006 – J Dilla, American rapper/producer (b. 1974)
2006 – Dick Harmon, American golf instructor (b. 1947)
2006 – Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian doctor and activist (b. 1940)
2007 – Ned Austin, American character actor (b. 1925)
2007 – Jeong Da-bin, South Korean actress (b. 1980)
2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor (b. 1932)
2008 – Steve Gerber, American comics writer (b. 1947)
2008 – Adeline Jay Geo-Karis, American politician (b. 1918)
2009 – Leila Hadley, American travel writer and socialite (b. 1926)
2009 – Jeremy Lusk, American freestyle motocross racer (b. 1984)
2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball coach and executive (b. 1925)
2010 – Charles Wilson, American politician (b. 1933)