today.nukz.net: Almanac

Douglas Adams 1952-2001

Events

222 – Emperor Elagabalus is assassinated, along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, by the Praetorian Guard during a revolt. Their mutilated bodies are dragged through the streets of Rome before being thrown into the Tiber.
1387 – Battle of Castagnaro: English condottiero Sir John Hawkwood leads Padova to victory in a factional clash with Verona.
1641 – Guaraní forces living in the Jesuit Reductions defeat bandeirantes loyal to the Portuguese Empire at the Battle of Mbororé in present-day Panambí, Argentina.
1649 – The Frondeurs and the French sign the Peace of Rueil.
1702 – The Daily Courant, England's first national daily newspaper is published for the first time.
1708 – Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation.
1784 – The signing of the Treaty of Mangalore brings the Second Anglo-Mysore War to an end.
1811 – During André Masséna's retreat from the Lines of Torres Vedras, a division led by French Marshal Michel Ney fights off a combined Anglo-Portuguese force to give Masséna time to escape.
1824 – The United States Department of War creates the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
1845 – The Flagstaff War: Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Maori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand.
1848 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government.
1851 – The first performance of Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Venice.
1861 – American Civil War: The Constitution of the Confederate States of America is adopted.
1864 – The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield.
1867 – The first performance of Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi takes place in Paris.
1872 – Construction of the Seven Sisters Colliery, South Wales, begins; located on one of the richest coal sources in Britain.
1872 – The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture.
1888 – The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.
1917 – World War I: Baghdad falls to Anglo-Indian forces commanded by General Stanley Maude.
1927 – In New York City, Samuel Roxy Rothafel opens the Roxy Theatre.
1931 – Ready for Labour and Defence of the USSR, abbreviated as GTO, is introduced in the Soviet Union.
1941 – World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act into law, allowing American-built war supplies to be shipped to the Allies on loan.
1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur leaves Corregidor.
1945 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts a large-scale kamikaze attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchored at Ulithi atoll in Operation Tan No. 2.
1945 – World War II: The Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived puppet state, is established with B?o Ð?i as its ruler.
1946 – Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, is captured by British troops.
1977 – The 1977 Hanafi Muslim Siege: more than 130 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.
1978 – Coastal Road massacre: At least 37 are killed and more than 70 are wounded when Al Fatah hijack an Israeli bus, prompting Israel's Operation Litani.
1983 – Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon.
1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
1990 – Lithuania declares itself independent from the Soviet Union.
1990 – Patricio Aylwin is sworn in as the first democratically elected President of Chile since 1970.
1993 – Janet Reno is confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn in the next day, becoming the first female Attorney General of the United States.
1999 – Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
2004 – Madrid train bombings: Simultaneous explosions on rush hour trains in Madrid, Spain, kill 191 people.
2006 – Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile.
2007 – Russian helicopters reportedly attack the Kodori Valley in Abkhazia, an accusation that Russia categorically denies later.
2009 – Winnenden school shooting: 16 are killed and 11 are injured before recent-graduate Tim Kretschmer shoots and kills himself, leading to tightened weapons restrictions in Germany.
2010 – Economist and businessman Sebastián Piñera is sworn in as President of Chile, while three earthquakes, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9 and all centered next to Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro Province, hit central Chile during the ceremony.
2011 – An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. This event also triggered the second largest nuclear accident in history, and one of only two events to be classified as a Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

Births

1544 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (d. 1595)
1738 – Benjamin Tupper, American Continental Army officer (d. 1792)
1745 – Bodawpaya, King of Burma (d. 1819)
1785 – John McLean, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (d. 1861)
1787 – Ivan Nabokov, Russian general (d. 1852)
1811 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician (d. 1877)
1818 – Marius Petipa, French ballerina and choreographer (d. 1910)
1822 – Joseph Louis François Bertrand, French mathematician (d. 1900)
1863 – Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer (d. 1915)
1870 – Louis Bachelier, French mathematician (d. 1946)
1872 – Kathleen Clarice Groom, English writer (d. 1954)
1873 – David Horsley, English-born film executive (d. 1933)
1876 – Carl Ruggles, American composer (d. 1971)
1878 – Umegatani Totaro II, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 1927)
1880 – Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenecist (d. 1943)
1884 – Lewi Pethrus, Swedish politician (d. 1974)
1885 – Malcolm Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1948)
1887 – Raoul Walsh, American film director (d. 1980)
1890 – Vannevar Bush, American engineer and politician (d. 1974)
1891 – Gertrud Wolle, German actress (d. 1952)
1897 – Henry Cowell, American composer and impresario (d. 1965)
1898 – Dorothy Gish, American actress (d. 1968)
1899 – King Frederick IX of Denmark (d. 1972)
1899 – James H. Douglas, Jr. American Secretary of the Air Force (d. 1988)
1903 – Ronald Syme, New Zealand classicist and historian (d. 1989)
1903 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (d. 1992)
1907 – Jessie Matthews, English actress (d. 1981)
1910 – Robert Havemann, German chemist (d. 1982)
1911 – Fitzroy MacLean, Scottish soldier, writer and politician (d. 1996)
1915 – Vijay Hazare, Indian cricketer (d. 2004)
1915 – Hans Peter Keller, German writer (d. 1988)
1915 – J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist (d. 1990)
1916 – Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
1916 – Ezra Jack Keats, American author (d. 1983)
1920 – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Dutch physicist, Nobel laureate
1921 – Frank Harary, American mathematician (d. 2005)
1921 – Ástor Piazzolla, Argentine composer (d. 1992)
1922 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek philosopher and economist (d. 1997)
1922 – José Luis López Vázquez, Spanish actor (d. 2009)
1922 – Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Prime Minister of Malaysia (d. 1976)
1923 – Louise Brough, American tennis player
1926 – Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights leader (d. 1990)
1926 – Ilhan Mimaroglu, Turkish musician and composer
1927 – Robert Mosbacher, United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 2010)
1928 – Albert Salmi, American actor (d. 1990)
1929 – Timothy Carey, American actor (d. 1994)
1930 – Claude Jutra, Canadian actor and director (d. 1986)
1931 – Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born entrepreneur
1932 – Leroy Jenkins, American composer and violinist (d. 2007)
1934 – Sam Donaldson, American reporter
1935 – Sandra Milo, Italian actress
1936 – Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court Justice
1936 – Hollis Frampton, American filmmaker and theorist.
1937 – Carlos Larrañaga, Spanish actor
1938 – Joseph Brooks, American screenwriter and songwriter (d. 2011)
1939 – Lorraine Hunt, American politician
1939 – Flaco Jiménez, American musician
1940 – Alberto Cortez, Argentinian singer
1942 – Joel Steiger, American writer and producer
1945 – Dock Ellis, American baseball player (d. 2008)
1945 – Harvey Mandel, American musician (Pure Food and Drug Act and Canned Heat)
1946 – Patty Waters, American jazz singer
1947 – Tristan Murail, French composer
1948 – Roy Barnes, American politician
1948 – César Gerónimo, Dominican baseball player
1948 – Dominique Sanda, French actress
1950 – Bobby McFerrin, American singer
1950 – Jerry Zucker, American director
1952 – Douglas Adams, English writer (d. 2001)
1953 – Derek Daly, Irish-born American race car driver
1953 – Bernie LaBarge, Canadian musician
1953 – László Bölöni, Romanian football player and manager
1954 – David Newman, American composer and conductor
1954 – Gale Norton, American politician
1955 – Leslie Cliff, Canadian swimmer
1955 – Nina Hagen, German singer and actress
1956 – Curtis Brown, American astronaut
1956 – Joey Buttafuoco, American criminal
1956 – D. J. MacHale, American author and TV writer
1956 – Rob Paulsen, American voice actor
1956 – Helen Rollason, English sports journalist and TV presenter (d. 1999)
1957 – Lady Chablis, American drag queen entertainer
1957 – Cheryl Lynn, American singer
1958 – Anissa Jones, American actress (d. 1976)
1958 – Eddie Lawson, American motorcycle racer
1958 – Tetsuro Oda, Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer
1958 – Jim Pinkerton, American columnist and author
1958 – Flemming Rose, Danish journalist
1958 – Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, Iraqi interim president
1959 – Nina Hartley, American porn star, author and feminist
1959 – Dejan Stojanovic, Serbian-American poet
1959 – Fred M'membe, Zambian journalist
1960 – Christophe Gans, French film director
1960 – Junichi Sato, Japanese anime director
1961 – Elias Koteas, Canadian actor
1962 – Matt Mead, American politician
1962 – Jeffrey Nordling, American actor
1962 – Mary Gauthier, American singer/songwriter
1963 – Davis Guggenheim, American director and producer
1963 – Alex Kingston, English actress
1964 – Peter Berg, American actor, director and producer
1964 – Libba Bray, American author
1964 – Emma Chambers, English actress
1964 – Vinnie Paul, American drummer (Pantera, Damageplan and Hellyeah)
1964 – Shane Richie, British actor
1965 – Nigel Adkins, English football manager
1965 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American politician
1965 – Wallace Langham, American actor
1965 – Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, British reality TV personality
1965 – Andy Sturmer, American musician, writer and producer (Beatnik Beatch and Jellyfish)
1966 – Joe Hachem, Lebanese-born Australian poker player
1966 – Ilias Zouros, Greek basketball coach
1967 – John Barrowman, Scottish-American actor
1967 – Brad Carson, American politician
1967 – Renzo Gracie, Brazilian martial artist
1968 – Lisa Loeb, American singer-songwriter and actress (Liz and Lisa)
1968 – Takao Osawa, Japanese actor
1969 – Terrence Howard, American actor
1969 – Soraya, American singer (d. 2006)
1970 – Delia Gallagher, American journalist
1971 – Johnny Knoxville, American actor and comedian
1971 – Martin Rucinský, Czech ice hockey player
1972 – Paolo Ponzo, Italian footballer
1972 – Ua, Japanese singer-songwriter (Ajico)
1973 – Martin Hiden, Austrian footballer
1973 – Wataru Sakata, Japanese wrestler and martial artist
1974 – Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan baseball player
1974 – Kate Brian, American author
1974 – Jon Dalton, American reality TV personality
1974 – Mohit Chauhan, Indian Singer (Silk Route)
1975 – Eric the Midget, American radio personality
1975 – Shawn Springs, American football player
1976 – Thomas Gravesen, Danish footballer
1977 – Andre Nickatina, American rapper
1977 – Becky Hammon, American basketball player
1978 – Didier Drogba, Ivorian footballer
1978 – Albert Luque, Spanish footballer
1978 – Paulo Musse, Brazilian footballer
1978 – Christopher Rice, American author
1979 – Elton Brand, American basketball player
1979 – Fred Jones, American basketball player
1979 – Benji Madden, American guitarist and singer (Good Charlotte, Dead Executives and Taintstick)
1979 – Joel Madden, American singer and actor (Good Charlotte and Dead Executives)
1980 – Paul Scharner, Austrian footballer
1980 – Dan Uggla, American baseball player
1981 – David Anders, American actor
1981 – Heidi Cortez, American entrepreneur
1981 – Lee Evans, American football player
1981 – Russell Lissack, English musician (Bloc Party, Pin Me Down and Ash)
1981 – LeToya Luckett, American singer (Destiny's Child)
1981 – Paul Wall, American rapper (Expensive Taste)
1982 – Brian Anderson, American baseball player
1982 – Thora Birch, American actress
1982 – Benjamin Krause, German rugby player
1982 – Lindsey McKeon, American actress
1983 – Marietta Chrousala, Greek fashion model
1983 – Bianca Gonzalez, Filipina TV host and model
1983 – Adil Mezgour, Moroccan footballer
1983 – Melissa Rycroft, American cheerleader
1984 – Marc-André Grondin, Canadian actor
1984 – Anna Tsuchiya, Japanese model, actress and singer (Spin Aqua)
1984 – Tom James, English rower
1985 – Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Luis Hernández, Mexican figure skater
1985 – Stelios Malezas, Greek footballer
1985 – Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan Cricketer
1985 – Sonia Radeva, Bulgarian figure skater
1985 – Derek Schouman, American football player
1985 – Hakuho Sho, Mongolian sumo wrestler
1985 – Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian footballer
1986 – Mariko Shinoda, Japanese singer and actress (AKB48)
1987 – Marc-André Gragnani, Canadian ice hockey player
1988 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese football player
1988 – Katsuhiko Nakajima, Japanese professional wrestler
1989 – Anton Yelchin, Russian/American actor
1990 – Janna Dominguez, Filipina actress
1990 – Reiley McClendon, American actor
1990 – Ayumi Morita, Japanese tennis player
1991 – Lin Lin, Chinese-born Japanese singer (Morning Musume and Shin Minimoni)
1991 – Poonam Pandey, Indian model
1991 – Jack Rodwell, English footballer
1992 – Sacha Parkinson, British actress
1993 – Demi Harman, Australian actress.

Deaths

1425 BC – Thutmose III, Egyptian pharaoh
222 – Elagabalus, Roman Emperor
222 – Julia Soaemias, mother of Elagabalus (b. 180)
859 – Eulogius of Cordoba, Spanish martyr
1198 – Marie de Champagne, French noble (b. 1145)
1486 – Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg (b. 1414)
1514 – Donato Bramante, Italian architect (b. 1444)
1575 – Matthias Flacius, Croatian Protestant reformer (b. 1520)
1602 – Emilio de' Cavalieri, Italian composer
1607 – Giovanni Maria Nanino, Italian composer (b. 1543 or 1544)
1722 – John Toland, Irish philosopher (b. 1670)
1759 – John Forbes, English general (b. 1710)
1786 – Charles Humphreys, American politician (b. 1714)
1801 – Paul I of Russia, Russian emporer (b. 1754)
1820 – Benjamin West, English-American painter (b. 1738)
1851 – George McDuffie, American politician (b. 1790)
1854 – Willard Richards, American religious figure (b. 1804)
1856 – James Beatty, Irish railway engineer (b. 1820)
1863 – Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet, English general (b. 1803)
1866 – Ulysses F. Doubleday, American congressman (b. 1792)
1869 – Vladimir Odoevsky, Russian philosopher (b. 1803)
1870 – Moshoeshoe I, King of Lesotho
1874 – Charles Sumner, American politician (b. 1811)
1898 – William Rosecrans, American Civil War Union general (b. 1819)
1898 – Dikran Tchouhadjian, Armenian composer and activist (b. 1837)
1907 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French politician (b. 1847)
1908 – Benjamin Waugh, American activist (b. 1839)
1915 – Thomas Alexander Browne, Australian writer (b. 1826)
1920 – Julio Garavito Armero, Colombian astronomer (b. 1865)
1931 – Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, German director (b. 1888)
1937 – Joseph S. Cullinan, American industrialist (b. 1860)
1944 – Hendrik Willem van Loon, Dutch-born American historian (b. 1882)
1949 – Anastasios Charalambis, Greek interim Prime Minister (b. 1862)
1951 – János Zsupánek, Slovene poet and writer (b. 1861)
1952 – Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885)
1955 – Sir Alexander Fleming, Scottish scientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1881)
1955 – Oscar Mayer, Bavarian-born American entrepreneur (b. 1859)
1957 – Richard E. Byrd, American admiral and explorer (b. 1888)
1958 – Ole Kirk Christiansen, Danish inventor (b. 1891)
1960 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American explorer and adventurer (b. 1884)
1967 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano (b. 1882)
1969 – John Wyndham, English author (b. 1903)
1970 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American novelist (b. 1889)
1971 – Philo T. Farnsworth, American inventor (b. 1906)
1971 – Whitney Young, American civil rights activist (b. 1921)
1977 – Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist (b. 1893)
1977 – Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Argentine racing driver (b. 1934)
1978 – Claude François, French singer (b. 1939)
1978 – Sofia Vembo, Greek singer and actress (b. 1910)
1982 – Edmund Cooper, English author (b. 1926)
1982 – Horace Gregory, American poet (b. 1898)
1984 – Kostas Roukounas, Greek singer and songwriter (b. 1903)
1986 – Sonny Terry, American blues musician (b. 1911)
1987 – Joe Gladwin, English actor (b. 1906)
1989 – James Kee, American politician (b. 1917)
1989 – John J. McCloy, American politician (b. 1895)
1990 – Dean Horrix, English footballer (b. 1961)
1992 – Richard Brooks, American film director (b. 1912)
1993 – Dino Bravo, Italian-born wrestler (b. 1949),
1995 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (b. 1945)
1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor and director (b. 1928)
1999 – Herbert Jasper, Canadian psychologist, anatomist and neurologist (b. 1906)
1999 – Camille Laurin, Canadian psychiatrist and politician (b. 1922)
2002 – James Tobin, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1918)
2003 – Brian Cleeve, Irish author (b. 1921)
2003 – Ivar Hansen, Danish politician (b. 1938)
2006 – Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Canadian hockey player (b. 1931)
2006 – Slobodan Miloševic, President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia (b. 1941)
2007 – Betty Hutton, American actress and singer (b. 1921)
2008 – Nils Taube, Estonian-born English fund manager (b. 1928)
2009 – Charles Lewis, Jr., American businessman, co-founder of Tapout Clothing (b. 1963)
2010 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician (b. 1931)
2010 – Merlin Olsen, American football player and actor (b. 1940)
2010 – Leena Peltonen-Palotie, Finnish human geneticist (b. 1952)
2011 – Gary Wichard, American sports agent (b. 1950)
2011 – Jack Hardy, American singer-songwriter (b. 1947)