today.nukz.net: Almanac

π PI Day

Events

44 BC – Casca, Cicero and Cassius decided, in the night before the Assassination of Julius Caesar, that Mark Antony should stay alive.
313 – Emperor Jin Huidi is executed by Liu Cong, ruler of the Xiongnu state (Han Zhao).
1381 – Chioggia concludes an alliance with Zadar and Trogir against Venice, which becomes changed in 1412 in Šibenik.
1489 – The Queen of Cyprus, Catherine Cornaro, sells her kingdom to Venice.
1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguenots defeat the forces of the Catholic League under the Duc de Mayenne during the French Wars of Religion.
1647 – Thirty Years' War: Bavaria, Cologne, France and Sweden sign the Truce of Ulm.
1757 – Admiral Sir John Byng is executed by firing squad aboard HMS Monarch for breach of the Articles of War.
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Spanish forces capture Fort Charlotte in Mobile, Alabama, the last British frontier post capable of threatening New Orleans in Spanish Louisiana.
1782 – Battle of Wuchale: Emperor Tekle Giyorgis pacifies a group of Oromo near Wuchale.
1794 – Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.
1885 – The Mikado a light opera by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, had its first public performance in London.
1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing United States currency on the gold standard.
1903 – The Hay-Herran Treaty, granting the United States the right to build the Panama Canal, is ratified by the United States Senate. The Colombian Senate would later reject the treaty.
1910 – Lakeview Gusher, the largest U.S. oil well gusher near Bakersfield, California, vented to atmosphere.
1915 – World War I: Cornered off the coast of Chile by the Royal Navy after fleeing the Battle of the Falkland Islands, the German light cruiser SMS Dresden is abandoned and scuttled by her crew.
1931 – Alam Ara, India's first talkie film, is released.
1939 – Slovakia declares independence under German pressure.
1942 – Orvan Hess and John Bumstead became the first in the world to successfully treat a patient, Anne Miller, using penicillin.
1943 – World War II – The Kraków Ghetto is 'liquidated'.
1945 – World War II – The R.A.F. first operational use of the Grand Slam bomb, Bielefeld, Germany.
1951 – Korean War: For the second time, United Nations troops recapture Seoul.
1964 – A jury in Dallas, Texas, finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy.
1967 – The body of President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.
1972 – Italian publisher and former partisan Giangiacomo Feltrinelli is killed by an explosion near Segrate.
1972 – Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashed near Kalba in the United Arab Emirates. All 112 passengers and crew were killed.
1978 – The Israeli Defense Force invades and occupies southern Lebanon, in Operation Litani.
1979 – In China, a Hawker Siddeley Trident crashes into a factory near Beijing, killing at least 200.
1980 – In Poland, a plane crashes during final approach near Warsaw, killing 87 people, including a 14-man American boxing team.
1984 – Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Féin, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in central Belfast.
1994 – Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released.
1995 – Space Exploration: Astronaut Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle.
2006 – Members of the Chadian military fail in a coup d'état attempt.
2007 – The Left Front government of West Bengal sends at least 3,000 police to Nandigram in an attempt to break Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee resistance there; the resulting clash leaves 14 dead.
2008 – A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupted in Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet.

Births

1638 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (d. 1710)
1681 – Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer (d. 1767)
1790 – Ludwig Emil Grimm, German painter and engraver (d. 1863)
1801 – Kristjan Jaak Peterson, first Estonian poet (d. 1822)
1804 – Johann Strauss, Senior, Austrian composer (d. 1849)
1807 – Josephine of Leuchtenberg, queen of Sweden and Norway (d. 1876)
1813 – Joseph Philo Bradley, American jurist and former Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1892)
1822 – Teresa of the Two Sicilies, Empress of Brazil (d. 1889)
1823 – Théodore de Banville, French writer (d. 1891)
1833 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor, first female dentist in the United States (d. 1910)
1835 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (d. 1910)
1837 – Charles Ammi Cutter, American librarian (d. 1903)
1844 – Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy, British poet
1844 – King Umberto I of Italy, (d. 1900)
1851 – John Sebastian Little, American politician, member of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas and 21st Governor of Arkansas (d. 1916)
1853 – Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
1854 – Paul Ehrlich, German scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1915)
1854 – John Lane, British publisher (d. 1925)
1854 – Alexandru Macedonski, Romanian writer (d. 1920)
1854 – Thomas R. Marshall, American politician, 27th Governor of Indiana, and 28th Vice President of the United States of America (d. 1925)
1862 – Vilhelm Bjerknes, Norwegian physicist (d. 1951)
1863 – Casey Jones, American railroad engineer (d. 1900)
1866 – Alexey Troitsky, Russian chess problemist (d. 1942)
1868 – Emily Murphy, Canadian women's rights activist, first female magistrate in the British Empire (d. 1933)
1869 – Algernon Blackwood, British writer (d. 1951)
1879 – Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
1880 – Princess Thyra, daughter of Frederick VIII of Denmark (d. 1945)
1882 – Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician (d. 1969)
1885 – Raoul Lufbery, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
1886 – Firmin Lambot, Belgian cyclist (d. 1964)
1887 – Sylvia Beach, American publisher (d. 1962)
1887 – Charles Reisner, American silent actor and film director (d. 1962)
1888 – Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Canadian painter (d. 1970)
1894 – Osa Johnson, American explorer (d. 1953)
1898 – Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist (d. 1985)
1899 – K.C. Irving, Canadian industrialist (d. 1992)
1899 – Ada Kramm, Norwegian actress (d. 1981)
1903 – Mustafa Barzani, Kurdish politician (d. 1979)
1903 – Adolph Gottlieb American painter (d. 1974)
1904 – Doris Eaton Travis, American actress, Ziegfeld girl (d. 2010)
1905 – Raymond Aron, French philosopher (d. 1983)
1908 – Ed Heinemann, American aircraft designer (Douglas Aircraft) (d. 1991)
1908 – Maurice Merleau-Ponty, French phenomenological philosopher (d. 1961)
1908 – Philip Conrad Vincent, British motorcycle pioneer (Vincent Black Shadow, Vincent Rapide and Vincent Black Lightning) (d. 1979)
1912 – Cliff Bastin, English footballer (d. 1991)
1912 – Les Brown, American bandleader (d. 2001)
1912 – W. Graham Claytor, Jr. Southern Railway and later Amtrak President (d. 1994)
1912 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian racing driver (d. 1998)
1912 – W. Willard Wirtz, American administrator (d. 2010)
1914 – Lee Elhardt Hays, American folk singer (d. 1981)
1914 – Bill Owen, British actor (d. 1999)
1914 – Lee Petty, American race car driver (d. 2000)
1915 – Alexander Brott, Canadian conductor and composer (d. 2005)
1916 – Horton Foote, American author, playwright and screenwriter (d. 2009)
1918 – Dennis Patrick, American actor (d. 2002)
1920 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (d. 2001)
1921 – S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A
1922 – Les Baxter, American musician and composer (d. 1996)
1923 – Diane Arbus, American photographer (d. 1971)
1925 – William Clay Ford, Sr., American owner of the Detroit Lions
1925 – Francis A. Marzen, American Catholic prelate (d. 2004)
1926 – François Morel, Canadian pianist, conductor and music educator
1928 – Frank Borman, American astronaut and CEO
1928 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish populariser environmentalist (d. 1980)
1931 – Phil Phillips, American singer and songwriter
1932 – Naina Yeltsina, former First Lady of Russian Federation
1933 – Sir Michael Caine, British actor
1933 – René Felber, former member of the Swiss Federal Council
1933 – Quincy Jones, American musician and composer
1934 – Eugene Cernan, American astronaut
1934 – Paul Rader, the 15th General of The Salvation Army
1936 – Bob Charles, New Zealand golfer
1939 – Pilar Bardem, Spanish actress
1939 – Raymond J. Barry, American actor
1939 – Bertrand Blier, French film director and screenwriter
1939 – Yves Boisset, French film director and screenwriter
1939 – Stavros Xarhakos, Greek composer
1941 – Wolfgang Petersen, German director
1942 – Rita Tushingham, British actress
1944 – Boris Brott, Canadian musician and conductor
1944 – Vaclav Nedomansky, Czech hockey player
1944 – Bobby Smith, English professional footballer and manager
1943 – Anita Morris, American actress (d. 1994)
1945 – Jasper Carrott, British comedian
1945 – Michael Martin Murphey, American country music singer
1945 – Walter Parazaider, American saxophonist (Chicago)
1945 – Herman Van Veen, Dutch singer and theatre performer
1946 – Steve Kanaly, American actor
1946 – Wes Unseld, American basketball player
1947 – Pam Ayres, British poet
1947 – Roy Budd, British jazz musician and composer (d.1993)
1947 – William J. Jefferson, American politician
1947 – Jona Lewie, English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
1948 – Tom Coburn, American politician, junior Senator from Oklahoma
1948 – Billy Crystal, American actor and comedian
1948 – Theo Jansen, Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor.
1949 – Michael Stedman, British World War I historian and author
1950 – Rick Dees, American disc jockey
1951 – Jerry Greenfield, American co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream
1955 – Helen Atkinson-Wood, English actress and comedian
1956 – Colin Ayre, British football player
1956 – Butch Wynegar, American baseball player
1957 – Andrew Robinson, British author
1957 – Tad Williams, American author
1958 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco
1959 – Tamara Tunie, American actress
1959 – Brian Whitfield, former South African cricketer
1960 – Kirby Puckett, American baseball player (d. 2006)
1961 – Rey Washam, American musician (Scratch Acid)
1961 – Greg Anderson, American NHRA driver
1961 – Gary Dell'Abate, American radio producer
1961 – Penny Johnson Jerald, American actress
1961 – Hiro Matsushita, Japanese racing driver
1962 – Narumi Tsunoda, Japanese voice actress
1963 – Bruce Reid, Australian cricketer
1964 – Dario Bisso, Italian conductor
1965 – James Kevin Brown, American baseball player
1965 – Aamir Khan, Indian actor
1965 – Kiana Tom, American fitness guru and model
1965 – Kevin Williamson, American screenwriter
1966 – Elise Neal, American actress
1967 – Melissa Reeves, American actress
1968 – Megan Follows, Canadian actress
1969 – Des Coleman, English actor and presenter
1969 – Larry Johnson, American basketball player
1970 – Ebru Kavaklioglu, Russian athlete
1970 – Meredith Salenger, American actress
1974 – Grace Park, Canadian actress
1974 – Patrick Traverse, Canadian ice hockey player
1975 – Stephen Harper, British/English footballer
1975 – Johan Paulik, Slovak porn star
1975 – Wendy Rice, American actress
1975 – Rico Yan, Filipino actor (d. 2002)
1976 – Daniel Gillies, Canadian born New Zealand actor
1976 – Merlin Santana, American actor (d. 2002)
1977 – Zé António, Portuguese footballer
1977 – Vadims Fjodorovs, Latvian footballer
1977 – Aki Hoshino, Japanese model
1977 – Naoki Matsuda, Japanese footballer (d. 2011)
1978 – Carlo Giuliani, Italian anarchist (d. 2001)
1978 – Pieter van den Hoogenband, Dutch swimmer
1979 – Nicolas Anelka, French footballer
1979 – Anthony Carelli, Italian-American professional wrestler
1979 – Chris Klein, American actor
1979 – Love, Angolan footballer
1979 – Sead Ramovic, German-born Bosnian footballer
1980 – Aaron Brown, English footballer
1980 – Matteo Grassotto, Italian racing driver
1980 – Ben Herring, New Zealand rugby union footballer
1980 – Mercedes McNab, Canadian-born actress
1981 – Bobby Jenks, American baseball player
1981 – Mei-Ting Sun, Chinese-born pianist
1981 – George Wilson, American football player
1982 – Carlos Marinelli, Argentine footballer
1982 – Kate Maberly, British actor, singer-songwriter
1982 – François Sterchele, Belgian footballer (d. 2008)
1983 – Bakhtiyar Artayev, Kazakh boxer
1983 – Taylor Hanson, American musician (Hanson)
1984 – Liesel Matthews, American former child actress
1985 – Eva Angelina, American pornographic actress
1985 – Idaira, Spanish singer
1985 – Brianna Love, American pornographic actress
1985 – Ariel Rebel, Canadian pornographic actress
1986 – Jamie Bell, British actor
1986 – Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwean cricketer
1986 – Andy Taylor, British/English footballer
1987 – Robert Clark, American Actor
1988 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player
1988 – Sasha Grey, American pornographic actress
1989 – Kevin Lacroix, Canadian racing car driver
1989 – Colby O'Donis, American musician
1990 – Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, Icelandic footballer
1991 – László Szucs, Hungarian footballer
1991 – Steven Zellner, German footballer
1992 – Jasmine Murray, American singer
1993 – Philipp Ziereis, German footballer

Deaths

313 – Jin Huidi, Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 284)
968 – Matilda of Ringelheim, German Queen (b. c. 895)
1457 – Jingtai Emperor of China (b. 1428)
1471 – Sir Thomas Malory, English author (b. 1405)
1647 – Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange (b. 1584)
1648 – Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, English general (b. 1584)
1680 – René Le Bossu, French critic (b. 1631)
1682 – Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruysdael, Dutch painter (b. 1628)
1696 – Jean Domat, French jurist (b. 1625)
1698 – Claes Rålamb, Swedish statesman (b. 1622)
1748 – George Wade, British military leader (b. 1673)
1757 – John Byng, Royal Navy admiral (b. 1704)
1765 – Ayagawa Goroji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 2nd Yokozuna (b. c. 1703)
1791 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian and Bible commentator (b. 1725)
1803 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German writer (b. 1724)
1805 – Stanislaw Szczesny Potocki, Russian general (b. 1753)
1811 – Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1735)
1823 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general (b. 1739)
1823 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent Royal Navy, Admiral of the Fleet
1883 – Karl Marx, German philosopher and political theorist (b. 1818)
1884 – Quintino Sella, Italian statesman (b. 1827)
1932 – George Eastman, American inventor, and founder of Eastman Kodak (b. 1854)
1933 – Balto, Siberian Husky noted for his role in the 1925 serum run to Nome (b. 1919)
1946 – Werner von Blomberg, field marshal (b. 1878)
1949 – John Callan O'Laughlin, American political and military figure and journalist (b. 1873)
1957 – Evagoras Pallikarides, Greek-Cypriot freedom fighter (b. 1938)
1973 – Howard Aiken, American engineer (b. 1900)
1973 – Rafael Godoy, Colombian composer (b. 1907)
1973 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (b. 1901)
1975 – Susan Hayward, American actress (b. 1917)
1976 – Busby Berkeley, American choreographer and director (b. 1895)
1977 – Fannie Lou Hamer, American civil rights activist (b. 1917)
1980 – Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, Spanish environmentalist (b. 1928)
1980 – Mohammad Hatta, Indonesian politician (b. 1902)
1983 – Maurice Ronet, French film actor (b. 1927)
1984 – Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet (b. 1915)
1989 – Edward Abbey, American author and environmental activist (b. 1927)
1989 – Happy Humphrey, American professional wrestler known for weighing in at 800+ pounds
1991 – Howard Ashman, American lyricist and playwright (b. 1950)
1991 – Doc Pomus, American composer (b. 1925)
1991 – Margery Sharp, children's author (b. 1905)
1992 – Jean Poiret, French actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
1995 – William Alfred Fowler, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1911)
1997 – Fred Zinnemann, Austrian-born director (b. 1907)
1999 – Kirk Alyn, American actor (b. 1910)
2000 – C. Jérôme, French singer (b. 1946)
2002 – Cherry Wilder, New Zealand-born author (b. 1930)
2003 – Jack Goldstein, Canadian-born artist (b. 1945)
2003 – Jean-Luc Lagardère, French publisher (b. 1928)
2006 – Ann Calvello, roller-derby queen (b. 1929)
2006 – Lennart Meri, former President of Estonia (b. 1929)
2007 – Lucie Aubrac, French history teacher and member of the French Resistance (b. 1912)
2007 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (b. 1943)
2008 – Chiara Lubich, Italian Catholic activist and leader and foundress of the Focolare (b. 1920)
2009 – Alain Bashung, French singer, songwriter, comedian and actor (b. 1947)
2009 – Altovise Davis, American entertainer, Sammy Davis, Jr.'s widow (b. 1943)
2010 – Peter Graves, American actor (b. 1926)
2010 – Janet Simpson, British track and field athlete (b. 1944)