today.nukz.net: Almanac

Mickey Spillane 1918-2006

Events

141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China.
632 – The Last Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of Prophet Muhammad.
1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg.
1230 – Bulgarian tsar Ivan Asen II defeats Theodore of Epirus in the Battle of Klokotnitsa.
1276 – Augsburg becomes an Imperial Free City.
1500 – The fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral leaves Lisbon for the Indies. The fleet will discover Brazil which lies within boundaries granted to Portugal in the Treaty of Tordesillas.
1566 – David Rizzio, private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots, is murdered in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.
1765 – After a campaign by the writer Voltaire, judges in Paris posthumously exonerate Jean Calas of murdering his son. Calas had been tortured and executed in 1762 on the charge, though his son may have actually committed suicide.
1796 – Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
1811 – Paraguayan forces defeat Manuel Belgrano at the Battle of Tacuarí.
1841 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally.
1842 – Giuseppe Verdi's third opera, Nabucco, receives its première performance in Milan; its success establishes Verdi as one of Italy's foremost opera writers.
1842 – The first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush.
1847 – Mexican-American War: The first large-scale amphibious assault in U.S. history is launched in the Siege of Veracruz.
1862 – American Civil War: The USS Monitor and CSS Virginia fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships.
1896 – Prime Minister Francesco Crispi resigns following the Italian defeat at the Battle of Adowa.
1910 – The Westmoreland County Coal Strike, involving 15,000 coal miners represented by the United Mine Workers, begins.
1916 – Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico.
1925 – Pink's War: The first Royal Air Force operation conducted independently of the British Army or Royal Navy begins.
1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to Congress, the first of his New Deal policies.
1944 – World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that would last five days.
1944 – The Soviet Air Forces conduct heavy bombing on Tallinn, Estonia, killing up to 800 people, mostly civilians.
1945 – The Bombing of Tokyo by the United States Army Air Forces began, one of the most destructive bombing raids in history.
1946 – Bolton Wanderers stadium disaster at Burnden Park, Bolton, England, 33 killed and hundreds injured
1954 – McCarthyism: CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly.
1956 – Soviet military suppresses mass demonstrations in the Georgian SSR, reacting to Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy.
1957 – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake in the Andreanof Islands, Alaska triggers a Pacific-wide tsunami causing extensive damage to Hawaii and Oahu.
1959 – The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York.
1960 – Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner implants for the first time a shunt he invented into a patient, which allows the patient to receive hemodialysis on a regular basis.
1961 – Sputnik 9 successfully launches, carrying a human dummy nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, and demonstrating that Soviet Union was ready to begin human spaceflight.
1967 – Trans World Airlines Flight 553, a Douglas DC-9-15, crashes in a field in Concord Township, Ohio following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, killing 26.
1976 – Forty-two people die in the 1976 Cavalese cable-car disaster, the worst cable-car accident to date.
1977 – The Hanafi Muslim Siege: In a thirty-nine hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings, killing two and taking 149 hostage.
1989 – Financially-troubled Eastern Air Lines filed for bankruptcy.
1990 – Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic American to serve in that position.
1991 – Massive demonstrations are held against Slobodan Miloševic in Belgrade.
1997 – Comet Hale-Bopp: Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day.
2010 – The first same-sex marriages in Washington, D.C., take place.
2011 – Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights.

Births

1213 – Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, French crusader (d. 1271)
1285 – Emperor Go-Nijo of Japan (d. 1318)
1454 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer and cartographer (d. 1512)
1564 – David Fabricius, German astronomer (d. 1617)
1568 – Aloysius Gonzaga, Italian saint (d. 1591)
1627 – John Bowne, English-born American Quaker (d. 1695)
1629 – Tsar Alexis I of Russia (d. 1676)
1695 – Martín Sarmiento, Spanish writer and scholar (d.1772)
1720 – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (d. 1790)
1727 – Johann Gottlieb Preller, German cantor, composer, and land surveyor (d. 1786)
1737 – Josef Myslivecek, Czech composer (d. 1781)
1749 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, French writer and politician (d. 1791)
1753 – Jean-Baptiste Kleber, French general (d. 1800)
1758 – Franz Joseph Gall, German neuroscientist (d. 1828)
1763 – William Cobbett, English journalist and author (d. 1835)
1806 – Edwin Forrest, American actor and philanthropist (d. 1872)
1814 – Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet (d. 1861)
1815 – David Davis, American politician and jurist; United States Senator from Illinois and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (d. 1886)
1820 – Samuel Blatchford, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1893)
1825 – Alexander F. Mozhayskiy, Russian aviation pioneer (d. 1890)
1833 – Frederick A. Schroeder, industrialist and mayor of Brooklyn (d. 1899)
1839 – Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer (d. 1908)
1856 – Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (d. 1928)
1856 – Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
1887 – Fritz Lenz, German geneticist (d. 1976)
1887 – Phil Mead, English cricketer (d. 1958)
1890 – Rupert Balfe, Australian footballer (d. 1915)
1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician (d. 1986)
1891 – José P. Laurel, 3rd President of the Philippines (d. 1959)
1892 – Vita Sackville-West, English writer and gardener (d. 1962)
1894 – Frank Arnau, German writer (d. 1976)
1900 – Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, Italian aristocrat (d. 1948)
1902 – Will Geer, American actor (d. 1978)
1904 – Paul Klipsch, American engineer (d. 2002)
1905 – Gerardus Philippus Helders, Dutch politician
1909 – Derk Bodde, American sinologist (d. 2003)
1910 – Samuel Barber, American composer (d. 1981)
1915 – Johnnie Johnson, British fighter pilot (d. 2001)
1918 – George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party (d. 1967)
1918 – Mickey Spillane, American writer (d. 2006)
1920 – Frank J. Dixon, American immunologist (d. 2008)
1921 – Carl Betz, American actor (d. 1978)
1921 – Dimitris Horn, Greek actor (d. 1998)
1923 – James L. Buckley, American politician
1923 – André Courrèges, French fashion designer
1923 – Walter Kohn, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel laureate
1923 – Nicola Zaccaria, Greek opera singer (bass) (d. 2007)
1928 – Gerald Bull, Canadian artillery designer (d. 1990)
1929 – Desmond Hoyte, Prime Minister and President of Guyana (d. 2002)
1929 – Zillur Rahman, President of Bangladesh.
1930 – Ornette Coleman, American musician
1930 – Taina Elg, Finnish-American actress and dancer
1931 – Thore Skogman, Swedish entertainer (d. 2007)
1932 – Walter Mercado, Puerto Rican astrologist and actor
1932 – Keely Smith, American singer
1933 – Mel Lastman, Canadian politician
1933 – Lloyd Price, American singer
1934 – Del Close, American actor, writer and teacher (d. 1999)
1934 – Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut and the first human in space (d. 1968)
1934 – Marlene Streit, Canadian golfer
1934 – Joyce Van Patten, American actress
1935 – Andrew Viterbi, American scientist and businessman
1936 – Mickey Gilley, American musician and singer
1936 – Tom Sestak, American football player (d. 1987)
1937 – Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec from 2001-2003
1937 – Harry Neale, Canadian ice hockey coach, general manager and commentator
1937 – Brian Redman, English racing driver
1938 – Lill-Babs, Swedish singer
1940 – Raúl Juliá, Puerto Rican actor (d. 1994)
1941 – Ernesto Miranda, American litigant (d. 1976)
1942 – John Cale, Welsh musician (The Velvet Underground)
1942 – Mark Lindsay, American musician (Paul Revere & The Raiders)
1943 – Bobby Fischer, American chess player (d. 2008)
1943 – Charles Gibson, American television journalist
1943 – Colin Murdock, American voice actor
1943 – Trish Van Devere, American actress
1944 – Lee Irvine, South African cricketer
1945 – Robert Calvert, English singer (Hawkwind) (d. 1988)
1945 – Dennis Rader, American serial killer
1945 – Robin Trower, British rock musician
1946 – Jim Cregan, British rock musician
1947 – Keri Hulme, New Zealand writer
1947 – Chris Thompson, British rock musician
1948 – Emma Bonino, Italian politician
1948 – Jeffrey Osborne, American singer
1949 – Jamie Lyn Bauer, American actress
1949 – Tapani Kansa, Finnish singer
1950 – Doug Ault, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1950 – Danny Sullivan, American race car driver
1951 – Zakir Hussain, Tabla player and Musician
1951 – Michael Kinsley, American journalist and editor
1951 – Helen Zille, South African politician
1952 – Bill Beaumont, English rugby player
1954 – Bobby Sands, IRA member (d. 1981)
1955 – Teo Fabi, Italian racing driver
1955 – Ornella Muti, Italian actress
1955 – Józef Pinior, Polish politician
1956 – Mark Dantonio, American football coach
1956 – Shashi Tharoor, Indian author & United Nations Under-Secretary General
1956 – David Willetts, UK Minister of State for Universities and Science (Conservative)
1957 – Faith Daniels, American journalist
1957 – Mark Mancina, American composer
1957 – Mona Sahlin, Swedish politician
1958 – Linda Fiorentino, American actress
1958 – Martin Fry, English pop singer (ABC)
1958 – Jack Kenny, American television writer and producer
1961 – Mike Leach, American football coach
1961 – Rick Steiner, American wrestler
1961 – Darrell Walker, American basketball player
1962 – Jan Furtok, Polish footballer
1963 – Terry Mulholland, American baseball player
1963 – David Pogue, Technology columnist and musician
1963 – Jean-Marc Vallée, Canadian film director and screenwriter
1964 – Juliette Binoche, French actress
1964 – Herbert Fandel, German football referee
1964 – Phil Housley, American ice hockey player
1964 – Valérie Lemercier, French actress
1964 – Steve Wilkos, American police officer and talk show host
1965 – Brian Bosworth, American football player
1965 – Benito Santiago, Puerto Rican baseball player
1966 – Brendan Canty, American musician (Fugazi)
1966 – Tony Lockett, Australian footballer
1966 – Michael Patrick MacDonald, American memorist
1968 – Youri Djorkaeff, French footballer
1968 – Brian Heidik, American reality-show contestant
1968 – Johnny Kelly, American drummer (Type O Negative)
1969 – Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, American basketball player
1969 – Rob Dukes, American musician (Exodus)
1969 – Stefie Shock, Canadian singer and songwriter
1970 – Martin Johnson, English rugby player
1970 – Shannon Leto, American drummer and actor (30 Seconds to Mars)
1970 – David Guido Pietroni, Italian director and producer
1971 – Emmanuel Lewis, American actor
1971 – C-Murder, American rapper
1971 – Diego Torres, Argentine singer
1972 – Spencer Howson, Australian broadcaster
1972 – Jean Louisa Kelly, American actress
1972 – Kerr Smith, American actor
1973 – Aaron Boone, American baseball player
1975 – Roy Makaay, Dutch footballer
1975 – Didiayer Snyder, Australian television personality
1975 – Chaske Spencer, American actor
1975 – Juan Sebastián Verón, Argentine footballer
1976 – Thor Halvorssen Mendoza, Venezuelan human rights activist
1976 – Ben Mulroney, Canadian television host
1977 – Yamila Diaz-Rahi, Argentine supermodel
1977 – Radek Dvorák, Czech ice hockey player
1978 – Lucas Neill, Australian footballer
1979 – Melina Perez, American professional wrestler
1980 – Chingy, American rapper
1980 – Trent Croad, Australian rules footballer
1980 – Matthew Gray Gubler, American actor
1981 – Antonio Bryant, American football player
1981 – Anders Nøhr, Danish footballer
1981 – Clay Rapada, American baseball player
1983 – Clint Dempsey, American footballer
1983 – Ioannis Masmanidis, German footballer
1983 – Maite Perroni, Mexican singer (RBD)
1983 – Wayne Simien, American basketball player
1984 – Abdoulay Konko, French footballer
1984 – Julia Mancuso, American skier
1985 – Jesse Litsch, American baseball player
1985 – Parthiv Patel, Indian cricket player
1986 – Brittany Snow, American actress
1987 – Bow Wow, American rapper and actor
1988 – Alodia Gosiengfiao, Filipina cosplay artist and model
1989 – Taeyeon (Kim Tae-yeon), South Korean singer (Girls' Generation)
1990 – Bilel Ifa, Tunisian footballer
1990 – Aras Özbiliz, Turkish footballer
1996 – Darsheel Safary, Indian actor

Deaths

1202 – King Sverre of Norway
1422 – Jan Zelivsky, Hussite priest (b. 1380)
1440 – Saint Frances of Rome, Italian nun (b. 1384)
1566 – David Rizzio, Italian secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots (b. 1533)
1649 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish statesman (b. 1606)
1649 – Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland, English soldier (executed) (b. 1590)
1661 – Cardinal Mazarin, French cardinal and statesman (b. 1602)
1709 – Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, English diplomat (b. 1638)
1808 – Joseph Bonomi the Elder, architect (b. 1739)
1810 – Ozias Humphrey, English artist (b. 1842)
1825 – Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author (b.1743)
1851 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist (b. 1777)
1888 – William I, German Emperor (b. 1797)
1895 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer and journalist (b. 1836)
1897 – Jamal-al-Din Afghani, Afghan political activist and Islamic nationalist (b. 1838)
1897 – Sondre Norheim, Norwegian skier (b. 1825)
1918 – Frank Wedekind, writer (b. 1864)
1926 – Usui Mikao, Japanese founder of Reiki (b. 1865)
1937 – Paul Elmer More, American critic and essayist (b. 1864)
1945 – Margot Frank, German-born Dutch Jewish holocaust victim (b. 1926)
1954 – Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (b. 1912)
1954 – V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer (b. 1874)
1960 – Jack Beattie, Northern Irish politician (b. 1886)
1964 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (b. 1870)
1966 – Pablo Birger, Argentine racing driver (b. 1924)
1969 – Abdul Munim Riad general and chief of staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces (b. 1919)
1971 – Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch (b. 1902)
1974 – Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
1975 – Gleb W. Derujinsky, Russian-American sculptor (b. 1888)
1983 – Faye Emerson, American actress (b. 1917)
1983 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
1985 – Harry Catterick, English football manager (b. 1919)
1988 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German politician (b. 1904)
1989 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American artist (b. 1946)
1991 – Jim Hardin, former Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves pitcher (b. 1943)
1992 – Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1913)
1993 – Bob Crosby, American bandleader and vocalist (b. 1913)
1993 – C. Northcote Parkinson, British historian and writer (b. 1909)
1994 – Charles Bukowski, American writer (b. 1920)
1994 – Eddie Creatchman, Canadian wrestler manager (b. 1928)
1994 – Maurice Purtill, American Big Band drummer (b. 1916)
1994 – Fernando Rey, Spanish-born actor (b. 1917)
1994 – Gilbert Rondeau, Canadian politician (b. 1928)
1996 – George Burns, American actor and singer (b. 1896)
1997 – Jean-Dominique Bauby, French Journalist & Author (b.1952), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
1997 – Christopher Wallace, American rapper (b. 1972)
1997 – Terry Nation, Welsh novelist and screenwriter, creator of the Daleks (b.1930)
1999 – Harry Somers, Canadian composer (b. 1925)
2000 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer (b. 1908)
2000 – Ivo Robic, Croatian singer and songwriter (b. 1923)
2001 – Louiza Podimata, Greek actress (b. 1920)
2003 – Stan Brakhage, American filmmaker (b. 1933)
2003 – Bernard Dowiyogo, President of Nauru (b. 1946)
2004 – Gerald Deskin, clinical child psychologist (b. 1929)
2004 – Rust Epique, former Crazy Town guitarist and frontman for the band, pre)Thing (b. 1968)
2004 – Albert Mol, Dutch actor (b. 1917)
2005 – Chris LeDoux, American country singer and rodeo competitor (b. 1948)
2005 – Kurt Lotz, German business executive, second postwar CEO of Volkswagen (b. 1912)
2005 – István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (b. 1924)
2005 – Jeanette Schmid, Austrian professional whistler (b. 1924)
2006 – Geir Ivarsøy, Norwegian programmer, co-founder of Opera Software ASA (b. 1957)
2006 – John Profumo, British cabinet minister (b. 1915)
2006 – Laura Stoica, Romanian singer, composer and actress (b. 1967)
2007 – Brad Delp, American singer (Boston) (b. 1951)
2007 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
2007 – Jeanne Hopkins Lucas, North Carolina politician (b. 1935)
2010 – Willie Davis, American baseball player (b. 1940)
2010 – 'Granny D', American political activist (b. 1910)
2011 – David Broder, American journalist (b. 1929)