today.nukz.net: Almanac April 22

Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.

Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music. Yet Mingus avoided categorization, forging his own brand of music that fused tradition with unique and unexplored realms of jazz. Mingus focused on collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, Mingus looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists whom he assembled into unconventional and revealing configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.

Events

238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
1529 – Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues or 17° east of the Moluccas.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: the Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon I of France and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston capture Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1863 – American Civil War: Grierson's Raid begins – troops under Union Army Colonel Benjamin Grierson attack central Mississippi.
1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
1876 – The first ever National League baseball game is played in Philadelphia.
1889 – At high noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Run of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The United States Navy begins a blockade of Cuban ports and the USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
1906 – The 1906 Summer Olympics, not now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
1912 – Tsinghua University, one of mainland China's leading universities, is founded.
1912 – Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, begins publication in Saint Petersburg.
1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with CSAR operations in the China-Burma-India theater.
1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated – Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. 520 are killed and 80 escape.
1945 – World War II: Führerbunker: After learning that Soviet forces have taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admits defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide is his only recourse.
1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: Haifa, a major port of Israel, is captured from Arab forces.
1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army-McCarthy Hearings begins.
1964 – The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
1972 – Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
1983 – The German magazine Der Stern claims that the "Hitler Diaries" had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
1992 – In an explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
1993 – Version 1.0 of the Mosaic web browser is released.
1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria – 93 villagers killed.
1997 – The Japanese embassy hostage crisis ends in Lima, Peru.
1998 – Disney's Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives' home in Miami, Florida.
2000 – The Big Number Change takes place in the United Kingdom.
2000 – Second Battle of Elephant Pass: Tamil Tigers capture a strategic Sri Lankan Army base and hold it for 8 years.
2003 – Election of the fifth Caliph of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record.
2006 – 243 people are injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.
2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.

Births

1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German mathematician who invented a calculating machine (d. 1635)
1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian composer (d. 1709)
1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English statesman (d. 1763)
1707 – Henry Fielding, English author (d. 1754)
1711 – Paul II Anton Esterházy, Austrian soldier and music patron (d. 1762)
1724 – Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (d. 1804)
1744 – James Sullivan, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violin master and composer (d. 1841)
1766 – Madame de Staël, French author (d. 1817)
1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, British orientalist (d. 1894)
1816 – Charles Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, Arbor Day founder (d. 1902)
1844 – Lewis Thornton Powell, would-be assassin of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward (d. 1865)
1852 – Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1943)
1860 – Ada Rehan, American stage actress (d. 1916)
1868 – Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria (d. 1924)
1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary (d. 1924)
1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia, queen of Finland (d. 1954)
1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
1876 – Robert Bárány, Austrian physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1936)
1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (d. 1920)
1881 – Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician (d. 1970)
1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian psychologist (d. 1939)
1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian art historian, essayist and diplomat (d. 1958)
1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer and concentration camp administrator (d. 1945)
1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English astronomer (d. 1989)
1891 – Nicola Sacco, American anarchist (d. 1927)
1892 – Vernon Johns, American civil rights activist (d. 1965)
1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, novelist, professor, lepidopterist [O.S. 10 April] (d. 1977)
1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (d. 1967)
1905 – Robert Choquette, French Canadian novelist, poet and diplomat (d. 1991)
1906 – Eddie Albert, American actor (d. 2005)
1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
1907 – Ivan Efremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, Nobel laureate
1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (d. 1971)
1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, British singer (d. 1953)
1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese film director
1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch writer (d. 2002)
1914 – Michael Wittmann, German soldier (d. 1944)
1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist (d. 1999)
1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet
1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player (d. 2008)
1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2001)
1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American artist (d. 1993)
1922 – Charles Mingus, American musician (d. 1979)
1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist (d. 1973)
1923 – Avis Bunnage, English actress (d. 1990)
1923 – Bettie Page, American model (d. 2008)
1923 – Aaron Spelling, American television producer (d. 2006)
1925 – George Cole, English actor
1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress
1926 – James Stirling, British architect (d. 1992)
1927 – Laurel Aitken, Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
1927 – Giannis Mihalopoulos, Greek actor
1929 – Michael Atiyah, British-Lebanese mathematician
1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician
1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian politician
1935 – Paul Chambers, American jazz bassist (d. 1969)
1936 – Glen Campbell, American musician
1936 – Pierre Hétu, French Canadian conductor and pianist (d. 1998)
1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor
1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American composer (d. 2000)
1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and political activist (d. 2009)
1939 – Mel Carter, American singer
1939 – Jason Miller, American playwright (d. 2001)
1939 – Theodor Waigel, German politician and finance minister
1943 – Janet Evanovich, American writer
1943 – Louise Glück, American poet and 12th US Poet Laureate
1944 – Steve Fossett, American adventurer (d. 2007)
1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Italian musician (d. 1979)
1946 – Steven L. Bennett, USAF Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient (d. 1972)
1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist, writer and broadcaster
1946 – Nicole Garcia, French actress and director
1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian politician
1946 – John Waters, American filmmaker
1948 – Larry Groce, American singer and songwriter
1950 – Peter Frampton, English musician
1950 – Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings
1951 – Paul Carrack, English musician
1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentine poet
1952 – François Berléand, French actor
1952 – Marilyn Chambers, American pornographic actress (d. 2009)
1953 – Tom Griswold, American radio personality
1953 – Juhani Komulainen, Finnish composer
1955 – Johnnie To, Hong Kong film director and producer
1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish Prime Minister
1958 – Ken Olandt, American actor
1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball manager
1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
1959 – Ryan Stiles, American actor
1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian statesman
1960 – Gary Rhodes, English chef
1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American business executive
1960 – Tatiana Thumbtzen, American actress, model and dancer
1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and film director
1962 – Jeff Minter, English video game programmer
1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Coach of the Canadian women's national ice hockey team
1963 – Sean Lock, English comedian
1964 – Estelle Asmodelle, actress, model & writer
1965 – Lauri Hendler, actress
1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
1966 – Dana Barron, American actress
1966 – Fletcher Dragge, American guitarist (Pennywise)
1966 – Mariana Levy, Mexican actress (d. 2005)
1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
1967 – Sheryl Lee, American actress
1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American comedian and actress
1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player
1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer
1970 – Andrea Giani, Italian volleyball player
1970 – Regine Velasquez, Filipino singer and actress
1971 – Daisuke Enomoto, Japanese space tourist
1971 – Ingo Rademacher, German-Australian actor
1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby union footballer
1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver
1973 – Adem Poric, Australian footballer
1973 – Brian Marshall, American bassist (Creed)
1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer
1973 – Christopher Sabat, American voice actor
1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bassist (System of a Down)
1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player
1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
1976 – Michal Zewlakow, Polish footballer
1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
1977 – Aaron Fink, American guitarist (Breaking Benjamin)
1977 – Ambra Angiolini, Italian actress
1978 – Ezekiel Jackson, Guyanese professional wrestler
1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer (The Von Bondies)
1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian footballer
1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian musician (Silverchair)
1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
1980 – Courtney Friel, American sports & entertainment reporter
1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
1980 – Kora Karvouni, Greek actress
1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
1980 – Aaron Michael Metchik, American actor
1981 – Ken Dorsey, American football player
1981 – Daniel Ghita, Romanian super heavyweight K-1 kickboxer
1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian Rugby League Player
1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
1983 – Francis Capra, American actor
1983 – Sam Heads, British entomologist and palaeontologist
1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
1983 – Evangelos Mantzios, Greek footballer
1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer (Sugababes)
1984 – Michelle Ryan, English actress
1985 – Matt Ballinger, American singer (Dream Street)
1986 – Amber Heard, American actress
1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Mikel John Obi, Nigerian footballer
1988 – Amadou Samb, Senegalese footballer
1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
1989 – Dejuan Blair, American basketball player
1989 – Thomas James Longley, British actor
1990 – Eve Muirhead, Scottish curler
1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player

Deaths

296 – Pope Caius
455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman Emperor
536 – Pope Agapetus I
613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
1592 – Bartolomeo Ammanati, Italian architect (b. 1511)
1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish poet (b. 1598)
1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, Freiherr von Abschatz, German statesman (b. 1646)
1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French naturalist (b. 1686)
1778 – James Hargreaves, English inventor (b. 1720)
1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (stabbed) (b. 1763)
1833 – Richard Trevithick, English inventor (b. 1771)
1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican politician and soldier (b. 1786)
1877 – James P. Kirkwood, American civil engineer (b. 1807)
1892 – Edouard Lalo, French composer (b. 1823)
1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian inventor and academic (b. 1825)
1896 – Thomas Meik, British civil engineer (b. 1812)
1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
1925 – André Caplet, French composer (b. 1878)
1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter (b. 1848)
1930 – Jeppe Aakjær, Danish poet (b. 1866)
1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian, writer and irredenta (b. 1883)
1933 – Sir Henry Royce, British automobile manufacturer (b. 1863)
1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek naval officer in World War II (b. 1913)
1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician (b. 1900)
1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German artist (b. 1867)
1946 – Lionel Atwill, English actor (b. 1885)
1946 – Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1872)
1949 – Charles B. Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American civil rights attorney (b. 1895)
1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, British entomologist (b. 1870)
1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (b. 1911)
1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
1980 – Jane Froman, American actress (b. 1907)
1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German physicist (b. 1902)
1983 – John Louis Evans, American convicted murderer (executed) (b. 1950)
1983 – Earl "Fatha" Hines, American jazz pianist (b. 1903)
1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer (b. 1902)
1985 – Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer (b. 1900)
1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician, author and politician (b. 1921)
1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian writer (b. 1907)
1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
1989 – Emilio Gino Segrè, Italian-born American physicist (b. 1905)
1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
1994 – Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
1995 – Maggie Kuhn, American activist (b. 1905)
1996 – Erma Bombeck, American humorist (b. 1927)
1996 – Harold "Jug" McSpaden, American professional golfer (b. 1908)
1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby coach (b. 1940)
1999 – Chan Canasta, Polish-British magician and mindreader (b. 1920)
1999 – Apostolos Nikolaidis, Greek singer (b. 1938)
2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress (b. 1949)
2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925)
2003 – Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1912)
2003 – Mike Larrabee, American athlete (b. 1933)
2004 – Jason L. Dunham, American Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1981)
2004 – Pat Tillman, American football player and U.S. Army Ranger (killed in action) (b. 1976)
2005 – Norman Bird, UK character actor (b. 1920)
2005 – Robert Farnon, Canadian-born composer and conductor (b. 1917)
2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906)
2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist (b. 1915)
2006 – D'Iberville Fortier, Canadian politician and diplomat (b. 1926)
2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American congresswoman (b. 1938)
2008 – Ed Chynoweth, Canadian ice hockey executive (b. 1941)
2008 – Paul Davis, American singer and songwriter (b. 1948)
2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and white nationalist (b. 1943)
2011 – Moin Akhter, Pakistani actor (b. 1950)