today.nukz.net: Almanac

Nat King Cole 1919-1965

Events

45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
180 – Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.
455 – Petronius Maximus becomes, with support of the Roman Senate, emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
624 – Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr.
1337 – Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy in England.
1776 – American Revolution: British forces evacuate Boston, Massachusetts, ending the Siege of Boston, after George Washington and Henry Knox place artillery in positions overlooking the city.
1780 – American Revolution: George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence".
1805 – The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King.
1842 – The Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is formed;
1860 – The First Taranaki War begins in Taranaki, New Zealand, a major phase of the New Zealand land wars.
1861 – The Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) is proclaimed.
1891 – SS Utopia collides with HMS Anson in the Bay of Gibraltar and sinks, killing 562 of the 880 passengers on board.
1921 – The Second Republic of Poland adopts the March Constitution.
1937 – The Pedaliante achieves the first sustained 1 km human-powered flight.
1939 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanchang between the Kuomintang and Japan begins,
1941 – In Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of Art is officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1942 – Holocaust: The first Jews from the Lvov Ghetto are gassed at the Belzec death camp in what is today eastern Poland.
1945 – The Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany collapses, ten days after its capture.
1947 – First flight of the B-45 Tornado strategic bomber.
1948 – Benelux, France, and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Brussels, a precursor to the North Atlantic Treaty establishing NATO.
1950 – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium".
1957 – A plane crash in Cebu, Philippines kills Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay and 24 others.
1958 – The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.
1959 – Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India.
1960 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
1963 – Mount Agung erupted on Bali killing 11,000.
1966 – Off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean, the DSV Alvin submarine finds a missing American hydrogen bomb.
1969 – Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel.
1970 – My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
1973 – The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy is taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.
1979 – The Penmanshiel Tunnel collapses during engineering works, killing two workers.
1985 – Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles, California murder spree.
1988 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet.
1992 – Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires: Suicide car bomb attack kills 29 and injures 242.
1992 – A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%.
2000 – More than 800 members of the Ugandan cult Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God die in what is considered to be a mass murder and suicide, orchestrated by leaders of the cult.
2003 – Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook, resigns from the British Cabinet in disagreement with government plans for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
2004 – Unrest in Kosovo: More than 22 are killed and 200 wounded. 35 Serbian Orthodox shrines in Kosovo and two mosques in Belgrade and Niš are destroyed.
2008 – Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer resigns after a scandal involving a high-end prostitute. Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes New York State governor.
2011 – Libyan civil war: The United Nations Security Council adopts United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, authorizing a military intervention by member states to protect civilians in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

Births

1231 – Emperor Shijo of Japan (d. 1242)
1473 – King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
1628 – François Girardon, French sculptor (d. 1715)
1665 – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, French musician, harpsichordist and composer (d. 1729)
1676 – Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (d. 1732)
1725 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (d. 1806)
1747 – Johannes Jährig, German linguist (d. 1795)
1777 – Patrick Bronte, Anglo-Irish writer, curate, and father of the Bronte sisters (d. 1861)
1777 – Roger Brooke Taney, 5th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1864)
1780 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor, social reformer, author, and scientist (d. 1847)
1781 – Ebenezer Elliott, British poet (d. 1849)
1787 – Edmund Kean, English actor (d. 1833)
1804 – Jim Bridger, American trapper and explorer (d. 1881)
1820 – Jean Ingelow, English poet (d. 1897)
1834 – Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
1846 – Kate Greenaway, English children's author and illustrator (d. 1901)
1856 – Mikhail Vrubel, Russian painter (d. 1910)
1862 – Silvio Gesell, Belgian economist (d. 1930)
1864 – Joseph Baptista, Indian Home Rule Movement founder (d. 1930)
1866 – Pierce Butler, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1939)
1870 – Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (d. 1951)
1872 – Konstantinos Skarlatos, Greek Olympic shooter (d. 1969)
1876 – Frederick Ayres, American composer (d. 1926)
1877 – Otto Gross, Austrian psychoanalyst (d. 1920)
1880 – Sir Patrick Hastings, British barrister (d. 1952)
1880 – Lawrence Oates, English army officer and Antarctic explorer (d. 1912)
1881 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
1883 – Urmuz, Romanian writer (d. 1923)
1884 – Alcide Nunez, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1934)
1886 – Princess Patricia of Connaught, British princess (d. 1974)
1888 – Paul Ramadier, French politician (d. 1961)
1892 – Benjamin Drake Van Wissen, Australian Engineer (d. 1984)
1894 – Paul Green, American writer (d. 1981)
1897 – Jozef C. Mazur, American stained glass artist and painter (d. 1970)
1901 – Alfred Newman, American film composer (d. 1970)
1902 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (d. 1971)
1907 – Jean Van Houtte, Belgian politician (d. 1991)
1907 – Sonny Werblin, American football franchise owner (d. 1991)
1908 – Brigitte Helm, German actress (d. 1996)
1911 – Vello Kaaristo, Estonian cross-country skier (d. 1965)
1912 – Bayard Rustin, American civil rights activist (d. 1987)
1914 – Sammy Baugh, American football player (d. 2008)
1915 – Henry Bumstead, American art director (d. 2006)
1916 – Ray Ellington, British singer (d. 1985)
1919 – Nat King Cole, American singer (d. 1965)
1920 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Founding Leader of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
1921 – Meir Amit, Israeli politician and general (d. 2009)
1925 – Gabriele Ferzetti, Italian film and stage actor
1926 – Siegfried Lenz, German writer
1928 – William John McKeag, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
1930 – Paul Horn, American jazz flutist
1930 – James Irwin, American astronaut (d. 1991)
1931 – David Peakall, British scientist (d. 2001)
1932 – Donald N. Langenberg, American physicist
1933 – Myrlie Evers-Williams, American activist
1936 – Ladislav Kupkovic, Slovakian composer
1936 – Patty Maloney, American actress
1936 – Ken Mattingly, American astronaut
1937 – Rudy Ray Moore, American comedian and actor (d. 2008)
1937 – Adam Wade, American singer and actor
1938 – Rudolf Nureyev, Russian-born dancer and choreographer (d. 1993)
1938 – Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, Northern Irish clergyman
1938 – Zola Taylor, American singer (The Platters) (d. 2007)
1939 – Jim Gary, American sculptor (d. 2006)
1939 – Bill Graham, Canadian politician
1939 – Giovanni Trapattoni, Italian football manager
1939 – Robin Knox-Johnston, British Yachtsman
1940 – Mark White, American politician
1941 – Paul Kantner, American musician (Jefferson Airplane)
1941 – Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwanese politician
1942 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (d. 1994)
1944 – Pattie Boyd, British photographer and model
1944 – Cito Gaston, American baseball player and manager
1944 – John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter
1945 – Michael Hayden, American Air Force General, CIA director
1945 – Elis Regina, Brazilian singer (d. 1982)
1947 – Jan Andersson, Swedish politician
1947 – Yury Chernavsky, Russian-born composer and producer
1947 – James Morrow, American author
1948 – Alex MacDonald, Scottish footballer and football manager
1948 – William Gibson, American writer
1949 – Patrick Duffy, American actor
1949 – Daniel Lavoie, Canadian singer and songwriter
1949 – Pat Rice, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
1950 – Patrick Adams, American record producer and songwriter
1951 – Donald Findlay, Scottish lawyer
1951 – Scott Gorham, American musician (Thin Lizzy)
1951 – Craig Ramsay, Canadian ice hockey player
1951 – Kurt Russell, American actor
1952 – Nikos Xydakis, Greek musician and composer
1952 – Barry Horne, Animal rights activist (d. 2001)
1953 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino communist revolutionary (d. 2001)
1953 – Chuck Muncie, American football running back
1954 – Lesley-Anne Down, English actress
1955 – Cynthia McKinney, American politician, 2008 Presidential candidate
1955 – Gary Sinise, American actor
1956 – Patrick McDonnell, American cartoonist
1956 – Rory McGrath, English comedian and writer
1957 – Mal Donaghy, Northern Irish footballer
1957 – Michael Kelly, American journalist (d. 2003)
1958 – Pat Bolland, Canadian Broadcaster
1959 – Danny Ainge, American basketball player and coach
1959 – Paul Black, American rock singer
1959 – Christian Clemenson, American actor
1960 – Rebeca Arthur, American actress
1960 – Arye Gross, American actor
1960 – Vicki Lewis, American actress
1961 – Sam Bowie, American basketball player
1961 – Marcus Dillistone, Royal premiered and award-winning British film director.
1961 – Andrew Paul, English actor
1961 – Dana Reeve, American actress and activist (d. 2006)
1961 – Casey Siemaszko, American actor
1961 – Alexander Bard, Swedish artist, singer (Army Of Lovers), music producer, and philosopher
1962 – Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, Dutch politician
1962 – Clare Grogan, Scottish actress-singer
1963 – Alex Fong Chung-Sun, Chinese actor
1963 – Nick Peros, Canadian composer
1964 – Lee Dixon, English footballer
1964 – Rob Lowe, American actor
1964 – Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
1966 – Jeremy Sheffield, English actor
1967 – Billy Corgan, American musician (Smashing Pumpkins)
1967 – Barry Minkow, American criminal and fraudster
1969 – Patricia Ford, American model
1969 – Edgar Grospiron, French freestyle skier
1969 – Alexander McQueen, British fashion designer (d. 2010)
1969 – Mathew St. Patrick, American actor
1970 – Patrick Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Yanic Truesdale, Canadian actor
1970 – Gene Ween, American musician (Ween)
1971 – Bill Mueller, American baseball player
1972 – Melissa Auf der Maur, Canadian musician
1972 – Marc Gunn, poet, podcaster, and musician (Brobdingnagian Bards)
1972 – Mia Hamm, American soccer player
1973 – Rico Blanco, Filipino singer (Rivermaya)
1973 – Caroline Corr, Irish singer and musician
1973 – Vance Wilson, American baseball player
1973 – Jerome Woods, American football player
1974 – Marisa Coughlan, American actress
1974 – Mark Dolan, British TV show host
1974 – Oliver Palotai, German keyboard player (Doro)
1975 – Justin Hawkins, British singer (The Darkness)
1975 – Gina Holden, Canadian actress
1975 – Mason Jennings, American musician
1975 – Andrew "Test" Martin, Canadian wrestler (d. 2009)
1975 – Puneet Rajkumar, Indian (Kannada) actor, singer and director
1975 – Natalie Zea, American actress
1976 – Brittany Daniel, American actress
1976 – Cynthia Daniel, American actress and photographer
1976 – Scott Downs, American baseball player
1976 – Stephen Gately, Irish singer, musician, and actor (Boyzone) (d. 2009)
1976 – Álvaro Recoba, Uruguayan footballer
1978 – Adam Jennings, British actor, producer and director
1979 – Nicole "Coco" Austin, American glamor model
1979 – Stormy Daniels, American pornographic actress
1979 – Andrew Ference, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Samoa Joe, Samoan wrestler
1979 – Sharman Joshi, Indian actor
1979 – Stephen Kramer Glickman, American actor and comedian
1980 – Danny Califf, American soccer player
1980 – Katie Morgan, American pornographic actress
1981 – Aaron Baddeley, Australian golfer
1981 – Servet Çetin, Turkish footballer
1981 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
1981 – Thorsten Stuckmann, German footballer
1982 – Steven Pienaar, South African footballer
1983 – Raul Meireles, Portuguese footballer
1985 – Vassiliki Arvaniti, Greek beach volleyball player
1986 – Edin Džeko, Bosnian footballer
1986 – Miles Kane, British musician
1986 – Olesya Rulin, Russian actress
1987 – Krisnan Inu, New Zealand rugby league player
1987 – Rob Kardashian, American model and singer
1987 – Ryan Parent, Canadian hockey player
1987 – Bobby Ryan, American ice hockey player
1990 – Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton player
1997 – Julia Winter, British Actress

Deaths

45 BC – Titus Labienus, Roman leader
180 – Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor (b. 121)
460 – Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland (b. 387)
659 – Gertrude of Nivelles, Belgian abbess (b. 626)
1040 – Harold Harefoot, King of England
1058 – King Lulach I of Scotland (b. 1030)
1199 – Jocelin, bishop of Glasgow
1272 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (b. 1220)
1425 – Ashikaga Yoshikazu, Japanese shogun (b. 1407)
1516 – Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (b. 1478)
1565 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (b. 1500)
1640 – Philip Massinger, English dramatist (b. 1583)
1649 – Gabriel Lallemant, French Jesuit missionary, one of the Canadian Martyrs (b. 1610)
1680 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French writer (b. 1613)
1704 – Menno van Coehoorn, Dutch military engineer (b. 1641)
1713 – Juraj Jánošík, famous Slovak outlaw (b. 1688)
1715 – Gilbert Burnet, Scottish Bishop of Salisbury (b. 1643)
1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French poet (b. 1671)
1764 – George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, English astronomer
1782 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-born mathematician (b. 1700)
1830 – Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (b. 1764)
1846 – Friedrich Bessel, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1784)
1849 – William II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
1853 – Christian Doppler, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1803)
1871 – Robert Chambers, Scottish naturalist (b. 1802)
1875 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist (b. 1832)
1893 – Jules Ferry, French statesman (b. 1832)
1917 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
1926 – Aleksei Brusilov, Russian general (b. 1853)
1937 – Austen Chamberlain, English statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1863)
1941 – Marguerite Nichols, American actress (b. 1895)
1946 – Dai Li, Chinese spymaster (b. 1897)
1949 – Aleksandra Ekster, Russian painter (b. 1882)
1956 – Fred Allen, American actor and comedian (b. 1894)
1956 – Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1897)
1957 – Ramon Magsaysay, President of the Philippines (b. 1907)
1961 – Susanna M. Salter, American politician (b. 1860)
1962 – Pat Clayton, British surveyor and explorer (b. 1896)
1965 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American football coach (b. 1862)
1974 – Louis Kahn, American architect
1976 – Luchino Visconti, Italian director (b. 1906)
1981 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
1983 – Haldan Keffer Hartline, American physiologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
1987 – Santo Trafficante, Jr., American gangster (b. 1914)
1988 – Nikolas Asimos, Greek counter-culture composer and singer (b. 1949)
1989 – Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
1990 – Capucine, French actress (b. 1931)
1990 – Ric Grech, British bass player (Blind Faith – Traffic) (b. 1946)
1992 – Grace Stafford, American actress (b. 1903)
1993 – Helen Hayes, American actress (b. 1900)
1994 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (b. 1925)
1995 – Rick Aviles, American actor (b. 1952)
1995 – Ronald "Ronnie" Kray, British gangster (b. 1933)
1996 – René Clément, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1913)
1996 – Terry Stafford, American singer (b. 1941)
1997 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer (b. 1957)
1998 – Harold Copp, Canadian scientist (b. 1915)
1999 – Ernest Gold, Austrian composer (b. 1921)
1999 – Rod Hull, British comedian (b. 1936)
1999 – Jean Pierre-Bloch, French resistant and politician (b. 1905)
2002 – Rosetta LeNoire, American actress (b. 1911)
2002 – Van Tien Dung, Vietnamese general and politician (b. 1917)
2002 – Pat Weaver, American broadcast executive (b. 1908)
2003 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (b. 1902)
2004 – Rachel Hudson, British murder victim (b. 1984)
2004 – J.J. Jackson, American television personality (b. 1941)
2005 – Royce Frith, Canadian diplomat, public servant and politician (b. 1923)
2005 – George F. Kennan, American Cold War strategist and historian (b. 1904)
2005 – Andre Norton, American writer (b. 1912)
2006 – Bob Blue, American singer/songwriter (b. 1948)
2006 – Oleg Cassini, American fashion designer (b. 1913)
2006 – Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (b. 1913)
2006 – Bob Papenbrook, American voice actor (b. 1955)
2007 – John Backus, American computer scientist (b. 1924)
2007 – Roger Bennett, American gospel performer (b. 1959)
2007 – Jim Cronin, British animal welfare activist (b. 1951)
2008 – Roland Arnall, United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (b. 1939)
2009 – Clodovil Hernandes, Brazilian politician and TV host (b. 1937)
2009 – Fernand Lindsay, Canadian churchman, educator, organist and musical festival director (b. 1929)
2010 – Alex Chilton, American musician (b. 1950)
2010 – Charlie Gillett, British musicologist and radio presenter (b. 1942)
2011 – Michael Gough, British actor (b. 1916)
2011 – Ferlin Husky, American country singer (b. 1925)