today.nukz.net: Almanac April 23

Simone Thérèse Fernande Simon (23 April 1910 – 22 February 2005) was a French film actress who began her film career in 1931.

Born in Béthune, Pas-de-Calais (some sources say Marseille)France, she was the daughter of Henri Louis Firmin Champmoynat, a French engineer, airplane pilot in World War II, who died in a concentration camp, and Erma Maria Domenica Giorcelli, an Italian housewife. Before settling and growing up in Marseille, Simon lived in Madagascar, Budapest, Turin and Berlin. She went to Paris in 1931 and worked briefly as a singer, model and fashion designer. She also at one point decided that she wanted to become a sculptress

Events

215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
1014 – Battle of Clontarf: Brian Boru defeats Viking invaders, but is killed in battle.
1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as king of England,
1343 – Estonia: St. George's Night Uprising.
1348 – The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St George's Day.
1521 – Battle of Villalar: King Charles I of Spain defeats the Comuneros.
1635 – The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
1660 – Treaty of Oliwa is established between Sweden and Poland.
1661 – King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
1815 – The Second Serbian Uprising – a second phase of the national revolution of the Serbs against the Ottoman Empire, erupts shortly after the annexation of the country to the Ottoman Empire.
1910 – Theodore Roosevelt made his The Man in the Arena speech.
1918 – World War I: The British Royal Navy makes a raid in an attempt to neutralise the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge.
1920 – The national council in Turkey denounces the government of Sultan Mehmed VI and announces a temporary constitution.
1920 – The Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) is founded in Ankara.
1927 – Turkey becomes the first country to celebrate Children's Day as a national holiday.
1932 – The 153-year old De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem, Netherlands burns down. It is rebuilt and reopens exactly 70 years later.
1935 – The Polish Constitution of 1935 is adopted.
1940 – The Rhythm Night Club fire at a dance hall in Natchez, Mississippi, kills 198 people.
1941 – World War II: The Greek government and King George II evacuate Athens before the invading Wehrmacht.
1942 – World War II: Baedeker Blitz – German bombers hit Exeter, Bath and York in retaliation for the British raid on Lübeck.
1945 – Adolf Hitler's designated successor Hermann Göring sends him a telegram asking permission to take leadership of the Third Reich, which causes Hitler to replace him with Joseph Goebbels and Karl Dönitz.
1946 – Manuel Roxas is elected the last President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
1949 – Chinese Civil War: Establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
1951 – American journalist William N. Oatis is arrested for espionage by the Communist government of Czechoslovakia.
1955 – The Canadian Labour Congress is formed by the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.
1961 – Algiers putsch by French generals.
1967 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: ???? 1, Union 1) is a manned spaceflight, Launched into orbit carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov.
1968 – Vietnam War: Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
1971 – Bangladesh Liberation War: The Pakistan Army and Razakars massacred approximately 3,000 Hindu emigrants in the Jathibhanga area of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
1985 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.
1990 – Namibia becomes the 160th member of the United Nations and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
1993 – Eritreans vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
1993 – Sri Lankan politician Lalith Athulathmudali is assassinated while addressing a gathering, approximately 4 weeks ahead of the Provincial Council elections for the Western Province.
1997 – Omaria massacre in Algeria: 42 villagers are killed.

Births

1141 – King Malcolm IV of Scotland (d. 1165)
1170 – Isabelle of Hainaut, queen of France (d. 1190)
1185 – King Afonso II of Portugal (d. 1223)
1464 – Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, queen of France (d. 1505)
1484 – Julius Caesar Scaliger, Italian philosopher (d. 1558)
1500 – Alexander Ales, Scottish theologian (d. 1565)
1516 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian, and archaeologist (d. 1571)
1564 – William Shakespeare, English writer and actor (d. 1616) (traditional approximate birth date in Julian calendar based on April 26 baptism)
1598 – Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (d. 1653)
1621 – William Penn, English admiral (d. 1670)
1628 – Johann van Waveren Hudde, Dutch mathematician (d. 1704)
1676 – King Frederick I of Sweden (d. 1751)
1715 – Johann Friedrich Doles, German composer and pupil of J.S. Bach (d. 1797)
1720 – Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (d. 1797)
1725 – Saint Gerard Majella, Catholic saint (d. 1755)
1746 – Félix Vicq-d'Azyr, French physician and anatomist (d. 1794)
1775 – J. M. W. Turner, English painter (d. 1851)
1791 – James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States (d. 1868)
1792 – John Thomas Romney Robinson, Irish astronomer and physicist (d. 1882)
1794 – Wei Yuan, Chinese scholar (d. 1856)
1805 – Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz, German philosopher (d. 1879)
1813 – Stephen A. Douglas, U.S. Senator from Illinois and Presidential candidate (d. 1861)
1813 – Frédéric Ozanam, French scholar (Society of Saint Vincent de Paul) (d. 1853)
1823 – Abd-ul-Mejid I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1861)
1853 – Winthrop M. Crane, 40th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1920)
1857 – Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (d. 1919)
1858 – Max Planck, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1947)
1858 – Ethel Mary Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
1861 – Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (d. 1936)
1861 – John Peltz, American baseball player (d. 1906)
1865 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (d. 1943)
1867 – Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger, Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1928)
1872 – Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, British musician (d. 1951)
1876 – Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, German historian (d. 1925)
1880 – Michel Fokine, Russian choreographer and dancer (d. 1942)
1882 – Albert Coates, British composer (d. 1953)
1888 – Georges Vanier, French-Canadian soldier and diplomat (d. 1967)
1889 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (d. 1942)
1891 – Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (d. 1953)
1893 – Frank Borzage, American film director (d. 1952)
1894 – Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist (d. 1955)
1895 – Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand writer (d. 1982)
1895 – Johnny Hyde, Russian-born American talent agent (d. 1950)
1897 – Lucius D. Clay, American general (d. 1978)
1897 – Lester B. Pearson, fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1972)
1899 – Bertil Ohlin, Swedish economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1979)
1899 – Minoru Shirota, inventor of Yakult (d. 1982)
1900 – Joseph Green, Polish-born actor and director (d. 1996)
1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player (d. 1959)
1901 – E.B. Ford, British ecological geneticist (d. 1988)
1902 – Halldór Laxness, Icelandic writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
1903 – Guy Simonds, youngest general officer in the Canadian army (d. 1974)
1904 – Duncan Renaldo, Spanish-American actor (d. 1985)
1904 – Louis Muhlstock, Canadian painter (d. 2001)
1907 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (d. 1975)
1907 – Lee Miller, American photographer & model (d. 1977)
1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator (d. 2006)
1910 – Simone Simon, French actress (d. 2005)
1911 – Ronald Neame, British film producer (d. 2010)
1917 – Dorian Leigh, American supermodel (d. 2008)
1918 – Maurice Druon, French author (d. 2009)
1919 – Oleg Penkovsky, Soviet double-agent (d. 1963)
1921 – Janet Blair, American actress (d. 2007)
1921 – Warren Spahn, American baseball player (d. 2003)
1922 – Marjorie Cameron, American writer, painter, actress and occultist (d. 1995)
1922 – Jack May, British actor (d. 1997)
1923 – Dolph Briscoe, Governor of Texas (d. 2010)
1923 – Avram Davidson, American writer (d. 1993)
1923 – Antonino Rocca, professional wrestler (d. 1977)
1924 – Chuck Harmon, American baseball player
1924 – Bobby Rosengarden, American jazz drummer (d. 2007)
1926 – J. P. Donleavy, Irish American author
1928 – Shirley Temple, American actress and politician
1930 – Alan Oppenheimer, American actor and voice actor
1932 – Jim Fixx, American athlete and writer (d. 1984)
1932 – Halston, American fashion designer (d. 1990)
1934 – George Canseco, Filipino music composer (d. 2004)
1935 – Bunky Green, American musician
1936 – Roy Orbison, American singer and musician (d. 1988)
1938 – S. Janaki is an Indian playback singer.
1939 – Jorge Fons, Mexican film director
1939 – Lee Majors, American actor
1939 – Ray Peterson, American singer (d. 2005)
1940 – Michael Copps, American Federal Government official
1940 – Dale Houston, American singer (Dale & Grace) (d. 2007)
1941 – Jacqueline Boyer, French singer
1941 – Paavo Lipponen, Prime Minister of Finland 1995-2003
1941 – Michael Lynne, American film executive
1942 – Sandra Dee, American actress (d. 2005)
1943 – Gail Goodrich, American basketball player
1943 – Tony Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player
1943 – Frans Koppelaar, Dutch painter
1943 – Hervé Villechaize, French actor (d. 1993)
1944 – Jean-François Stévenin, French actor
1947 – Glenn Cornick, British musician (Jethro Tull)
1947 – Bernadette Devlin, Northern Irish politician
1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author
1948 – Serge Thériault, French-Canadian comedian and actor
1949 – David Cross, British violinist (King Crimson)
1949 – Joyce DeWitt, American actress
1952 – Narada Michael Walden, American musician and producer
1953 – James Russo, American actor
1954 – Michael Moore, American filmmaker
1955 – Judy Davis, Australian actress
1955 – Tony Miles, English chess player (d. 2001)
1955 – Fumi Hirano, Japanese voice actress and essayist
1957 – Neville Brody, English graphic designer, typographer and art director
1957 – Jan Hooks, American actress
1957 – Kenji Kawai, Japanese composer
1958 – Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic music composer
1958 – Gene Scheer, American opera librettist and songwriter
1958 – Ryan Walter, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
1960 – Steve Clark, English guitarist (Def Leppard) (d. 1991)
1960 – Claude Julien, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1961 – Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler (d. 2001)
1961 – George Lopez, American actor and comedian
1962 – John Hannah, Scottish actor
1963 – Paul Belmondo, French actor and racing driver
1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic powerlifter
1966 – Jim Stynes, Irish-born Australian rules footballer (d. 2012)
1967 – Rheal Cormier, Canadian baseball player
1967 – Kim Hee-ae, South Korean actress
1967 – Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
1968 – Princess Aisha bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1968 – Princess Zein bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1968 – Ken McRae, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1968 – Timothy McVeigh, American terrorist (d. 2001)
1969 – Yelena Shushunova, Russian gymnast
1969 – Byron Thames, American actor
1969 – Richard Wolstencroft, Australian filmmaker
1969 – Martin López-Zubero, Spanish swimmer
1969 – Arthur Phillips, American author and Jeopardy! champion
1970 – Scott Bairstow, Canadian actor
1970 – Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league footballer
1970 – Dennis Bayne Culp, American singer/songwriter
1970 – Sadao Abe, Japanese actor
1971 – Charmaine Sinclair, English model
1971 – Uli Herzner, German American designer
1972 – Pierre Labrie, Canadian poet
1972 – Patricia Manterola, Mexican singer
1972 – Sonya Smith, American actress
1973 – Patrick Poulin, French-Canadian ice hockey player
1974 – Carlos Dengler, American musician (Interpol)
1974 – Michael Kerr, New Zealand-born German rugby player
1974 – Barry Watson, American actor
1975 – Jón Þór Birgisson, Icelandic musician and singer (Sigur Rós)
1975 – Bobby Shaw, American football player
1977 – John Cena, American professional wrestler and actor
1977 – Andruw Jones, Curaçaoan baseball player
1977 – Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Kal Penn, American actor
1977 – Lee Young-Pyo, Korean footballer
1977 – John Oliver, British comedian
1979 – Barry Fratelli, Scottish bassist (The Fratellis)
1979 – Yana Gupta, Indian actress & model
1979 – Joanna Krupa, Polish/American model and actress
1979 – Jaime King, American actress
1979 – Samppa Lajunen, Finnish Nordic combined athlete
1979 – Lauri Ylönen, Finnish singer (The Rasmus)
1981 – Sean Henn, American baseball player
1981 – Chris Sharma, American rock climber/boulderer
1981 – Seka Aleksic, Serbian turbofolk singer
1983 – Daniela Hantuchová, Slovakian tennis player
1983 – Taio Cruz, British singer-songwriter
1983 – Aaron Hill, American actor
1984 – Alexandra Kosteniuk, Russian chess player
1985 – Angel Locsin, Filipina actress
1986 – Sven Kramer, Dutch speedskater
1986 – Jessica Stam, Canadian model
1987 – Emily Fox, American cup stacker and basketball player
1987 – Boaz Mauda, Israeli singer
1987 – John Boye, Ghanaian football player
1988 – Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
1988 – Molly Burnett, American actress
1988 – Prince Buaben, Ghanaian footballer
1988 – Lenka Wienerová, Slovak tennis player
1989 – Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
1990 – Dev Patel, British actor
1990 – Pikky Ya France, Namibian cricketer
1990 – Matthew Underwood, American actor
1993 – Rina Chikano, Japanese singer (AKB48)

Deaths

303 – Saint George, Roman soldier and Christian martyr
725 – Wihtred, King of Kent
871 – Æthelred of Wessex
997 – Saint Adalbert of Prague, bishop (b. c. 956)
1014 – Brian Boru, High King of Ireland
1016 – Æthelred II ("the Unready") of England
1124 – King Alexander I of Scotland (b. 1078)
1151 – Queen Adeliza of England (b. 1103)
1217 – King Inge II of Norway (b. 1185)
1307 – Joan of Acre, daughter of King Edward I of England (b. 1272)
1407 – Olivier de Clisson, French soldier (b. 1326)
1605 – Tsar Boris Godunov of Russia (b. c. 1550)
1616 – Miguel Cervantes, Spanish author (b. 1547)
1616 – El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Peruvian writer (b. 1539)
1616 – William Shakespeare, English dramatist and actor (b. 1564) (according to the Julian calendar)
1625 – Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (b. 1567)
1702 – Margaret Fell, English Quaker leader (b. 1614)
1740 – Thomas Tickell, English writer (b. 1685)
1781 – James Abercrombie, British general (b. 1706)
1784 – King Solomon I of Imereti (b. 1735)
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer (b. 1741)
1794 – Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (b. 1721)
1827 – Georgios Karaiskakis, Greek War of Independence figure
1839 – Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, French explorer (b. 1768)
1850 – William Wordsworth, English poet (b. 1770)
1889 – Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (b. 1808)
1895 – Carl Ludwig, German physician (b. 1815)
1905 – Gédéon Ouimet, Quebec politician (b. 1823)
1907 – Alferd Packer, American prospector and accused cannibal (b. 1842)
1915 – Rupert Brooke, English poet (b. 1887)
1936 – Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer (b. 1889)
1951 – Jules Berry, French actor (b. 1883)
1951 – Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1865)
1952 – Julius Freed, American inventor and banker (b. 1887)
1965 – George Adamski, Polish-American author and ufologist (b. 1891)
1975 – William Hartnell, English actor (b. 1908)
1979 – Blair Peach, New Zealand-born anti-fascist (b. 1946)
1981 – Josep Pla, Catalan journalist and writer (b. 1897)
1983 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (b. 1908)
1984 – Red Garland, American jazz pianist (b. 1923)
1985 – Sam Ervin, American politician (b. 1896)
1986 – Harold Arlen, American composer (b. 1905)
1986 – Jim Laker, English cricketer (b. 1922)
1986 – Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (b. 1906)
1990 – Paulette Goddard, American actress (b. 1910)
1991 – Johnny Thunders, American musician (b. 1952)
1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian filmmaker (b. 1921)
1992 – Tanka Prasad Acharya, Nepalese statesman (b. 1912)
1993 – César Chávez, American labor activist (b. 1927)
1995 – Douglas Lloyd Campbell, Canadian politician (b. 1895)
1995 – Howard Cosell, American attorney and sportscaster (b. 1918)
1995 – John C. Stennis, American politician (b. 1904)
1996 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian military officer (b. 1913)
1996 – P. L. Travers, Australian author (b. 1899)
1997 – Denis Compton, English cricketer (b. 1918)
1998 – Konstantinos Karamanlis, Greek politician (b. 1907)
1998 – James Earl Ray, American assassin (b. 1928)
1998 – Thanassis Skordalos, Greek musician (b. 1920)
2003 – James H. Critchfield, American Central Intelligence agent (b. 1917)
2003 – Fernand Fonssagrives, French photographer (b. 1910)
2005 – Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician (b. 1911)
2005 – Robert Farnon, Canadian-born composer and conductor (b. 1917)
2005 – Al Grassby, Australian immigration minister (b. 1928)
2005 – Sir John Mills, English actor (b. 1908)
2005 – Romano Scarpa, Italian-born comic artist (b. 1927)
2005 – Earl Wilson, American baseball player (b. 1934)
2006 – Johnnie Checketts, New Zealand fighter pilot (b. 1912)
2006 – Phil Walden, American rock group manager (b. 1940)
2007 – Paul Erdman, American economist and author (b. 1932)
2007 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (b. 1934)
2007 – Peter Randall, British George Medal recipient (b. 1930)
2007 – Boris Yeltsin, Russian politician (b. 1931)
2011 – Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill (b. 1921)
2011 – John Sullivan, British comedy writer (b. 1946)
2011 – Tom King, American songwriter and musician (b. 1943)