today.nukz.net: Almanac April 13

Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet, who lived in France for most of his adult life. He wrote in both English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.

Beckett is widely regarded as among the most influential writers of the 20th century.[2] Strongly influenced by James Joyce, he is considered one of the last modernists. As an inspiration to many later writers, he is also sometimes considered one of the first postmodernists. He is one of the key writers in what Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd". His work became increasingly minimalist in his later career

Events

1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
1598 – Henry IV of France issues the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots. (Edict repealed in 1685.)
1612 – Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojiro at Funajima island.
1613 – Samuel Argall captures Native American princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia to ransom her for some English prisoners held by her father. She is brought to Henricus as hostage.
1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: American forces are surprised in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey.
1796 – The first elephant ever seen in the United States arrives from India.
1829 – Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom gained the right to vote and to sit in Parliament with the Royal Assent of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.
1849 – Hungary becomes a republic.
1861 – American Civil War: Fort Sumter surrenders to Confederate forces.
1868 – The Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian troops capture Magdala.
1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art founded.
1873 – The Colfax Massacre takes place.
1902 – James C. Penney opens his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1909 – The Turkish military reverses the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 to force the deposal of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
1919 – The Establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.
1919 – Jallianwala Bagh massacre: British troops massacre at least 379 unarmed demonstrators in Amritsar, India. At least 1200 wounded.
1919 – Eugene V. Debs enters prison at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, for speaking out against the draft during World War I.
1941 – Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
1943 – World War II: The discovery of a mass grave of Polish prisoners of war executed by Soviet forces in the Katyn Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government in exile in London from the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.
1943 – The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth.
1944 – Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established.
1945 – World War II: German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen Germany.
1945 – World War II: Soviet and Bulgarian forces capture Vienna, Austria.
1948 – The Hadassah medical convoy massacre: In an ambush, 79 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital and a British soldier are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarra near Jerusalem.
1953 – CIA director Allen Dulles launches the mind-control program MKULTRA.
1958 – During the Cold War, American Van Cliburn wins the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
1960 – The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.
1964 – At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American male to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
1970 – An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon.
1972 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
1972 – Vietnam War: The Battle of An L?c begins.
1974 – Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.
1975 – Bus massacre in Lebanon: Attack by the Phalangist resistance kill 26 militia members of the P.F.L. of Palestine, marking the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
1976 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduced the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
1984 – India moves into Siachen Glacier thus annexing more territory from the Line of Control.
1987 – Portugal and the People's Republic of China sign an agreement in which Macau would be returned to China in 1999.
1992 – The Great Chicago Flood.
1997 – Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

Births

70 BC –Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician {d. October 8 BC}
1506 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (d. 1546)
1519 – Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)
1570 – Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator (d. 1606)
1573 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, queen consort of Sweden (d. 1625)
1593 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English statesman (d. 1641)
1618 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French writer (d. 1693)
1648 – Jeanne Guyon, French mystic (d. 1717)
1713 – Pierre Jélyotte, French operatic tenor (d. 1797)
1715 – John Hanson, President of the United States in Congress Assembled (d. 1783)
1729 – Thomas Percy, Bishop and magazine editor (d. 1811)
1732 – Frederick North, Lord North, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1792)
1735 – Isaac Low, delegate to the Continental Congress (d. 1791)
1743 – Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (d. 1826)
1747 – Louis Philip II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1793)
1762 – Charles Frederick Horn, English musician and composer (d. 1830)
1764 – Laurent, Marquis de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French marshal (d. 1830)
1769 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter (d. 1830)
1771 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and inventor (d. 1833)
1780 – Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer (d. 1868)
1784 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1877)
1787 – John Robertson, U.S. politician (d. 1873)
1802 – Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist (d. 1884)
1808 – Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (d. 1889)
1824 – William Alexander, Anglican bishop and Primate of All Ireland (d. 1911)
1825 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1868)
1828 – Joseph Barber Lightfoot, English theologian and Bishop (d. 1889)
1832 – Juan Montalvo, Ecuadoran author (d. 1889)
1841 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor (d. 1905)
1850 – Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, British astronomer (d. 1917)
1851 – Robert Abbe, American surgeon (d. 1928)
1852 – F.W. Woolworth, American businessman (d. 1919)
1860 – James Ensor, Belgian painter (d. 1949)
1866 – Butch Cassidy, American outlaw (d. 1908)
1872 – Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian writer (d. 1945)
1873 – John W. Davis, American politician (d. 1955)
1875 – Ray Lyman Wilbur, 31st United States Secretary of the Interior and 3rd President of Stanford University (d. 1949)
1879 – Edward Bruce, Director art projects (d. 1943)
1880 – Charles Christie, Canadian film studio owner (d. 1955)
1885 – Georg Lukács, Hungarian-born philosopher and literary critic (d. 1971)
1885 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (d. 1964)
1887 – Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and President of the Canadian Medical Association (d. 1995)
1889 – Herbert Osborne Yardley, American cryptographer (d. 1958)
1890 – Frank Murphy, American public servant (d. 1949)
1891 – Maurice Vincent Buckley, Australian winner of the Victoria Cross (d. 1921)
1891 – Nella Larsen, African-American novelist (d. 1964)
1891 – Robert Scholl, German politician, father of Hans and Sophie Scholl (d. 1973)
1892 – Arthur Travers 'Bomber' Harris, British Air Force commander (d. 1984)
1892 – Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, Scottish inventor (d. 1973)
1894 – Arthur Fadden, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1973)
1897 – Werner Voss, German World War I pilot (d. 1917)
1899 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and Scrabble inventor (d. 1993)
1900 – Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (d. 1976)
1901 – Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and semanticist (d. 1981)
1902 – Philippe de Rothschild, French race car driver and wine grower (d. 1988)
1902 – Marguerite Henry, American author (d. 1997)
1904 – David Robinson, British entrepreneur and philanthropist (d. 1987)
1906 – Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1989)
1906 – Bud Freeman, American musician (d. 1991)
1907 – Harold Stassen, American Presidential candidate (d. 2001)
1909 – Stanislaw Marcin Ulam, Polish mathematician (d. 1984)
1909 – Eudora Welty, American writer (d. 2001)
1911 – Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer (d. 1946)
1911 – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist (d. 1994)
1916 – Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner, American actress, journalist, and publisher (d. 2006)
1917 – Robert O. Anderson, American businessman (d. 2007)
1919 – Roland Gaucher, French journalist (d. 2007)
1919 – Howard Keel, American actor, singer, and president of the Screen Actors Guild (d. 2004)
1919 – Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American atheist activist (d. 1995)
1919 – Phil Tonken, American radio and television announcer (d. 2000)
1920 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
1920 – Claude Cheysson, French politician
1920 – Liam Cosgrave, fifth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland
1920 – John LaPorta, American musician (d. 2004)
1922 – Heinz Baas, German footballer (d. 1994)
1922 – John Braine, British novelist (d. 1986)
1922 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian president (d. 1999)
1923 – Don Adams, American actor and comedian (d. 2005)
1924 – Jack Chick, American evangelist
1924 – Stanley Donen, American film director
1926 – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough
1926 – Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress (d. 1983)
1927 – Maurice Ronet, French film actor (d. 1983)
1928 – Alan Clark, English politician (d. 1999)
1931 – Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
1931 – Dan Gurney, American race car driver
1931 – Jon Stone, co-creator of Sesame Street (d. 1997)
1932 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean politician (d. 1976)
1933 – Ben Nighthorse Campbell, American politician
1935 – Lyle Waggoner, American actor
1936 – Pierre Rosenberg, French art historian and essayist
1937 – Edward Fox, English actor
1937 – Lanford Wilson, American playwright (d. 2011)
1939 – Seamus Heaney, Irish writer, Nobel laureate
1939 – Paul Sorvino, American actor
1940 – Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (d. 1988)
1940 – Vladimir Cosma, Romanian-born musician and composer
1940 – J.M.G. Le Clézio, French novelist, Nobel laureate in Literature.
1940 – Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
1940 – Max Mosley, British racing driver, engineer and former president of the FIA
1941 – Jean-Marc Reiser, French comics creator (d. 1983)
1941 – Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist, Nobel laureate
1942 – Ataol Behramoglu Turkish poet and writer
1942 – Bill Conti, American composer
1943 – Billy Kidd, American skier
1944 – Charles Burnett, American film director
1944 – Jack Casady, American musician
1944 – Susan Davis, American politician
1944 – Brian Pendleton, musician (d. 2001)
1945 – Tony Dow, American actor
1945 – Lowell George, American singer/guitarist (d. 1979)
1945 – Bob Kalsu, American football player (d. 1970)
1945 – Judy Nunn, Australian actress
1945 – Charles Robinson, American actor
1946 – Al Green, American singer and pastor
1947 – Thanos Mikroutsikos, Greek composer & former minister
1948 – Sue Doughty, British politician
1948 – Nam Hae-il, Chief of Naval Operations of Republic of Korea Navy
1948 – Drago Jancar, Slovenian writer
1949 – Frank Doran, Scottish politician
1949 – Christopher Hitchens, English-born journalist, critic, and author (d. 2011)
1949 – Ricardo Zunino, Argentine racing driver
1950 – Terry Lester, American actor (d. 2003)
1950 – Ron Perlman, American actor
1950 – William Sadler, American actor
1951 – Peabo Bryson, American singer
1951 – Peter Davison, English actor
1951 – Joachim Streich, East German footballer
1951 – Max Weinberg, American drummer
1952 – Ron Dittemore, American space administrator
1952 – David Drew, British politician
1952 – Erick Avari, British-Indian actor
1953 – Stephen Byers, British politician
1953 – Dany Laferrière, Canadian novelist
1954 – Jimmy Destri, American keyboardist
1954 – Niels Olsen, Danish singer
1954 – Barbara Roche, British politician
1955 – Ole von Beust, Mayor of Hamburg
1955 – Steve Camp, American contemporary Christian music artist
1955 – Lupe Pintor, Mexican boxer
1956 – Peter 'Possum' Bourne, New Zealand rally driver (d. 2003)
1957 – Amy Goodman, American activist
1957 – Gary Kroeger, American actor
1957 – Dallas Moir, Scottish cricketer
1957 – Saundra Santiago, American actress
1960 – Bob Casey, Jr., Democratic U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
1960 – Olaf Ludwig, German cyclist
1960 – Rudi Völler, German football manager
1961 – Hiro Yamamoto, American rock bassist
1962 – Dave Miley, former baseball player and manager
1962 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (d. 1988)
1963 – Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player
1964 – Davis Love III, Professional Golfer
1964 – Caroline Rhea, Canadian actress
1965 – Patricio Pouchulu, Argentine architect
1966 – Ali Boumnijel, Tunisian football player
1966 – Mando, Greek singer
1966 – Marc Ford, American musician
1967 – Dana Barros, American basketball player
1967 – Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican singer
1969 – Dirk Muschiol, German footballer
1970 – Monty Brown, American professional wrestler
1970 – Gerry Creaney, Scottish footballer
1970 – Szilveszter Csollány, Hungarian gymnast
1970 – Ricardo Rincon, Mexican baseball player
1970 – Rick Schroder, American actor
1971 – Dina Korzun, Russian actress
1971 – Bo Outlaw, American basketball player
1971 – Valensia, Dutch singer
1972 – Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player
1972 – Aaron Lewis, American singer (Staind)
1973 – Bokeem Woodbine, American actor
1974 – Sergei Gonchar, Russian ice hockey player
1974 – David Schurmann, Brazilian film director
1974 – Darren Turner, British racing driver
1974 – David Zdrilic, Australian soccer player
1975 – Jasey-Jay Anderson, Canadian snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist
1975 – Lou Bega, German-born musician and artist
1975 – Bruce Dyer, English footballer
1975 – David Philip Hefti, Swiss composer and conductor
1976 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
1976 – Valentina Cervi, Italian actress
1976 – Patrik Eliáš, Czech ice hockey player
1976 – Glenn Howerton, American actor
1976 – Yu Ji-tae, South Korean actor
1978 – Arron Asham, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Kyle Howard, American actor
1978 – James Jordan, English professional ballroom dancer
1978 – Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer
1978 – Chris Sligh, American Idol finalist
1979 – Baron Davis, American basketball player
1979 – Meghann Shaughnessy, American tennis player
1980 – Colleen Clinkenbeard, American voice actress
1980 – Jana Cova, Czech pornographic actress
1980 – Quentin Richardson, American basketball player
1981 – Nat Borchers, American soccer player
1981 – Courtney Peldon, American actress
1982 – Nellie McKay, American singer
1982 – Janice Vidal, Hong Kong singer
1982 – Jill Vidal, Hong Kong singer
1983 – Schalk Burger, South African rugby player
1983 – Hunter Pence, American baseball player
1984 – Anders Lindegaard, Danish footballer
1984 – Hiro Mizushima, Japanese actor
1987 – Brandon Hardesty, American internet entertainer
1987 – Massimiliano Pesenti, Italian footballer
1987 – Antwone Taulton, American homeless advocate

Deaths

799 – Paul the Deacon, Italian monk and chronicler (b. c. 720)
814 – Krum of Bulgaria
1093 – Prince Vsevolod I of Kiev (b. 1030)
1605 – Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia (b. c. 1551)
1612 – Sasaki Kojiro, Japanese samurai
1635 – Fakhr-al-Din II, Druze Prince of Lebanon (b. 1572)
1638 – Henri, duc de Rohan, French Huguenot leader (b. 1579)
1641 – Richard Montagu, English clergyman (b. 1577)
1695 – Jean de la Fontaine, French author (b. 1621)
1722 – Charles Leslie, Irish Anglican theologian (b. 1650)
1793 – Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, French revolutionary (b. 1763)
1794 – Nicolas Chamfort, French writer (b. 1741)
1826 – Franz Danzi, German composer (b. 1763)
1853 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (b. 1788)
1853 – James Iredell, Jr., American politician (b. 1788)
1855 – Henry De la Beche, English geologist (b. 1796)
1868 – Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1818)
1880 – Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist (b. 1813)
1882 – Bruno Bauer, German theologian (b. 1809)
1886 – John Humphrey Noyes, American political and religious figure (b. 1811)
1890 – Samuel J. Randall, American politician (b. 1828)
1909 – Whitley Stokes, British lawyer (b. 1830)
1910 – William Quiller Orchardson, British painter (b. 1835)
1911 – George Washington Glick, American politician (b. 1827)
1911 – John McLane, American politician (b. 1852)
1912 – Ishikawa Takuboku, Japanese author (b. 1886)
1918 – Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, Russian general (b. 1870)
1927 – Georg Voigt, German politician (b. 1866)
1936 – Milton Brown, American swing bandleader (b. 1903)
1936 – Konstantinos Demertzis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1876)
1938 – Grey Owl, British-born First Nations conservationist (b. 1888)
1941 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer (b. 1863)
1942 – Henk Sneevliet, Dutch communist (b. 1883)
1942 – Anton Uesson, Estonian politician and engineer (b. 1879)
1944 – Cécile Chaminade, French composer and pianist (b. 1857)
1945 – Ernst Cassirer, German philosopher (b. 1874)
1954 – Angus Lewis Macdonald, Canadian politician (b. 1890)
1954 – Emil Nolde, German painter and printmaker (b. 1867)
1959 – Eduard van Beinum, Dutch conductor (b. 1901)
1961 – John A. Bennett, American convicted rapist (b. 1935)
1962 – Culbert Olson, American politician (b. 1876)
1966 – Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi politician (b. 1921)
1966 – Georges Duhamel, French writer (b. 1884)
1967 – Nicole Berger, French actress (b. 1934)
1971 – Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1949)
1971 – Juhan Smuul, Estonian author (b. 1921)
1975 – Larry Parks, American actor (b. 1914)
1975 – François (Ngarta) Tombalbaye, Chadian politician (b. 1918)
1978 – Jack Chambers, Canadian artist (b. 1931)
1980 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1956)
1981 – Prince Asaka Yasuhiko of Japan (b. 1887)
1983 – Theodore Stephanides, Greek doctor and naturalist (b. 1896)
1984 – Richard Hurndall, British actor (b. 1910)
1984 – Ralph Kirkpatrick, American musician (b. 1911)
1984 – Dionyssis Papayannopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1912)
1986 – Stephen Stucker, American actor (b. 1947)
1988 – Jean Gascon, Canadian actor and director (Stratford Shakespeare Festival) (b. 1920)
1992 – Maurice Sauvé, Canadian economist, businessman and politician (b. 1923)
1993 – Wallace Stegner, American writer (b. 1909)
1996 – Leila Mackinlay, British writer (b. 1910)
1997 – Bryant Bowles, American white supremacist (b. 1920)
1997 – Dorothy Frooks, American author and military figure (b. 1896)
1997 – Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler (b. 1903)
1998 – Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfer (b. 1960)
1999 – Ortvin Sarapu, New Zealand chess player (b. 1924)
1999 – Willi Stoph, German politician (b. 1914)
2000 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian writer (b. 1916)
2001 – Robert Moon, American postal inspector (b. 1917)
2002 – Desmond Titterington, Northern Irish racecar driver (b. 1928)
2004 – Lou Berberet, American baseball player (b. 1929)
2004 – Caron Keating, British television presenter (b. 1962)
2005 – Don Blasingame, American baseball player (b. 1932)
2005 – Johnnie Johnson, American blues musician (b. 1924)
2005 – Johnny Loughrey, Irish singer (b. 1945)
2005 – Philippe Volter, Belgian actor (b. 1959)
2006 – Bill Baker, American baseball player (b. 1911)
2007 – Don Selwyn, Maori actor and film director (b. c. 1936)
2008 – John Wheeler, American physicist and educator (b. 1911)
2009 – Mark Fidrych, American baseball player (b. 1954)
2009 – Harry Kalas, American sportscaster (b. 1936)
2009 – Bruce Snyder, American football coach (b. 1940)