today.nukz.net: Almanac April 24

Willem de Kooning (April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

In the post-World War II era, de Kooning painted in a style that came to be referred to as Abstract expressionism or Action painting, and was part of a group of artists that came to be known as the New York School. Other painters in this group included Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Arshile Gorky, Mark Rothko, Hans Hofmann, Adolph Gottlieb, Robert Motherwell, Philip Guston and Clyfford Still.

Events

1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty).
1547 – Battle of Mühlberg. Duke of Alba, commanding Spanish-Imperial forces of Charles I of Spain, defeats the troops of Schmalkaldic League.
1558 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
1704 – The first regular newspaper in the United States, the News-Letter, is published in Boston, Massachusetts.
1800 – The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
1862 – American Civil War: A flotilla commanded by Union Admiral David Farragut passes two Confederate forts on the Mississippi River on its way to capture New Orleans, Louisiana.
1877 – Russo-Turkish War: Russian Empire declares war on Ottoman Empire.
1885 – American sharpshooter Annie Oakley was hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West.
1898 – The Spanish-American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
1904 – The Lithuanian press ban is lifted after almost 40 years.
1907 – Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey for the exclusive use of his employees, is opened.
1907 – Al Ahly was founded.
1913 – The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City is opened.
1915 – The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.
1916 – Easter Rising: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalists Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett starts a rebellion in Ireland.
1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the ice-trapped ship Endurance.
1918 – First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs.
1922 – The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation.
1926 – The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
1932 – Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
1953 – Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1955 – The Bandung Conference ends: 29 non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
1957 – Suez Crisis: The Suez Canal is reopened following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers to the region.
1963 – Marriage of HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent to the Hon Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
1965 – Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic when Colonel Francisco Caamaño, overthrows the triumvirate that had been in power since the coup d'état against Juan Bosch.
1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.
1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily."
1968 – Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations.
1970 – The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, is launched.
1970 – The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as the first President.
1971 – Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
1980 – Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
1990 – STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Shuttle mission STS-31 lifts off, carrying Hubble into orbit.

1990 – Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
1993 – An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
1996 – In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
2004 – The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
2005 – Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog, is born in South Korea.
2006 – King Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the demands of protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in 2002.

Births

1533 – William I of Orange (d. 1584)
1581 – Vincent de Paul, French saint (d. 1660)
1620 – John Graunt, English statistician and founder of the science of demography (d. 1674)
1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d. 1780)
1718 – Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born painter (d. 1784)
1743 – Edmund Cartwright, British inventor (d. 1823)
1784 – Peter Vivian Daniel, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1860)
1815 – Anthony Trollope, English novelist (d. 1882)
1845 – Carl Spitteler, Nobel laureate (d. 1924)
1856 – Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman (d. 1951)
1876 – Erich Raeder, German naval commander (d. 1960)
1878 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
1879 – Susanna Bokoyni, Hungarian centenarian and Circus performer (d. 1984)
1880 – Gideon Sundback, Swedish-American electrical engineer (d. 1954)
1882 – Sir Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain (d. 1970)
1887 – Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (d. 1931)
1889 – Stafford Cripps, British politician (d. 1952)
1889 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (d. 1924)
1897 – Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist (d. 1941)
1897 – Manuel Ávila Camacho, President of Mexico (d. 1955)
1899 – Oscar Zariski, Russian-born mathematician (d. 1986)
1900 – Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (d. 1984)
1903 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange (d. 1936)
1904 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter (d. 1997)
1905 – Robert Penn Warren, American poet (d. 1989)
1906 – William Joyce, Irish fascist (d. 1946)
1906 – Mimi Smith, maternal aunt and guardian of John Lennon (d. 1991)
1907 – William Sargant, British psychiatrist (d. 1988)
1908 – Marceline Day, American actor (d. 2000)
1908 – Józef Goslawski, Polish sculptor and medallic artist (d. 1963)
1914 – William Castle, American film director and producer (d. 1977)
1914 – Phil Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
1914 – Justin Wilson, American Cajun chef and humorist (d. 2001)
1916 – Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler (d. 2002)
1919 – David Blackwell, African-American mathematician (d. 2010)
1919 – Glafcos Clerides, President of Cyprus
1922 – J. D. Cannon, American actor (d. 2005)
1922 – Marc-Adélard Tremblay, Canadian anthropologist
1923 – Gus Bodnar, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
1923 – Doris Burn, American children's books author and illustrator (d. 2011)
1924 – Sir Clement Freud, British writer, radio personality, and politician (d. 2009)
1924 – Ruth Kobart, American actor and singer (d. 2002)
1926 – Thorbjörn Fälldin, Prime Minister of Sweden
1929 – Rajkumar, Kannada actor (d. 2006)
1930 – Jerome Callet, American musician
1930 – Richard Donner, American film director and producer
1930 – José Sarney, President of Brazil
1933 – Patricia Bosworth, American actress, journalist, writer and biographer
1933 – Claire Davenport, British actress (d. 2002)
1933 – Alan Eagleson, Canadian ice hockey agent and promoter
1933 – Helmuth Lohner, Austrian actor
1933 – Freddie Scott, American singer (d. 2007)
1934 – Shirley MacLaine, American actor and author
1935 – Tucker Smith, American actor, dancer, and singer (d. 1988)
1936 – David Crombie, Canadian politician
1936 – Glen Hobbie, American baseball player
1936 – Jill Ireland, British actress (d. 1990)
1937 – Joe Henderson, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2001)
1940 – Sue Grafton, American author
1941 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (d. 2010)
1941 – John Williams, Australian guitarist
1942 – Richard M. Daley, American politician
1942 – Barbra Streisand, American singer and actor
1943 – Richard Sterban, American singer
1944 – St. Clair Lee, American singer (The Hues Corporation) (d. 2011)
1944 – Tony Visconti, American record producer
1945 – Doug Clifford, American drummer
1945 – Robert Knight, American singer
1945 – Doug Riley, Canadian musician (d. 2007)
1945 – Dick Rivers, French singer and actor
1947 – Claude Dubois, Canadian singer-songwriter
1947 – Josep Borrell, Spanish politician
1947 – Roger D. Kornberg, American chemist and Nobel Prize laureate
1948 – Paul Cellucci, 69th Governor of Massachusetts and former United States Ambassador to Canada
1948 – David Ingram, studio session musician, songwriter and arranger (AnExchange, Love Song) (d. 2005)
1949 – Véronique Sanson, French singer-songwriter
1951 – Christian Bobin, French author and poet
1951 – Nigel Harrison, English musician (Blondie)
1951 – Enda Kenny, Taoiseach of Ireland
1952 – Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
1953 – Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
1954 – Mumia Abu-Jamal, American Civil Rights activist, journalist of The Black Panthers
1954 – Jack Blades, American musician, bassist for Night Ranger, Rubicon (1970s band) and others
1954 – Captain Sensible, British guitarist (The Damned)
1955 – Marion Caspers-Merk, German politician
1955 – Eamon Gilmore, Tánaiste of Ireland
1955 – John de Mol, Dutch media businessman
1955 – Michael O'Keefe, American actor
1957 – David J, British musician
1957 – Boris Williams, British musician (The Cure)
1958 – Valery Lantratov, Russian ballet dancer
1958 – Brian Paddick, British former deputy assistant commissioner and most senior openly gay police officer
1959 – Glenn Morshower, American actor
1959 – Malcolm Oastler, Australian engineer
1959 – Dave Ridgway, Canadian football player
1959 – Paula Yates, British television presenter (d. 2000)
1959 – Eren Keskin, Turkish lawyer and activist
1962 – Clemens Binninger, German politician
1962 – Stuart Pearce, English footballer and manager
1962 – Steve Roach, Australian rugby league footballer
1963 – Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter
1963 – Billy Gould, American musician (Faith No More)
1963 – Mano Solo, French singer
1963 – Tõnu Trubetsky, Estonian musician
1964 – Witold Smorawinski, Polish musician
1964 – Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian and actor
1964 – Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor
1965 – Jeff Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Son Chang Min, South Korean actor
1966 – Pierre Brassard, Canadian humorist and actor
1966 – Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer
1966 – David Usher, Canadian singer and songwriter
1967 – Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan baseball player
1968 – Aidan Gillen, Irish actor
1968 – Stacy Haiduk, American actress
1968 – Todd Jones, American baseball player
1968 – Yuji Nagata, Japanese professional wrestler
1968 – Hashim Thaci, Kosovan politician
1968 – Mark Vanderloo, Dutch model
1969 – Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer
1969 – Melinda Clarke, American actress
1969 – Viveca Paulin, Swedish actress
1970 – Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer
1971 – Alejandro Fernández, Mexican singer
1971 – Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian guitarist and singer
1972 – Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
1972 – Nicolas Gill, Canadian judoka
1972 – Chipper Jones, American baseball player
1972 – Jure Košir, Slovenian skier
1973 – Eric Snow, American basketball player
1973 – Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
1973 – Gabby Logan, British television presenter
1973 – Damon Lindelof, American television writer
1973 – Lee Westwood, British golfer
1974 – Eric Kripke, American television writer, director and producer
1974 – Derek Luke, American actor
1974 – Dave Vitty, British radio personality
1974 – Stephen Wiltshire, British artist, autistic savant
1975 – Sam Doumit, American actress
1975 – Thad Luckinbill, American actor
1976 – Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
1976 – Frédéric Niemeyer, Canadian tennis player
1977 – Siarhey Balakhonau, Belarusian writer
1977 – Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican baseball player
1978 – Eric Balfour, American actor
1978 – Kim Hyun-ju, Korean actress
1978 – Stella Damasus Aboderin, Nigerian actress
1979 – Laurentia Tan, Singaporean Paralympic equestrienne
1980 – Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer
1980 – Karen Asrian, Armenian chess Grandmaster (d. 2008)
1980 – Danny Gokey, American singer
1980 – Austin Nichols, American actor
1981 – Taylor Dent, American tennis player
1981 – Dusty Anderson, American pro wrestler
1981 – Yuko Nakanishi, Japanese swimmer
1982 – Kelly Clarkson, American singer
1982 – Laura Hamilton, Dancing On Ice 2011 Runner-Up
1983 – Princess Iman bint Al Hussein of Jordan
1984 – Tyson Ritter, American musician
1986 – Aaron Cunningham, American baseball player
1987 – Kristopher Letang, Canadian hockey player
1987 – Jan Vertonghen, Belgian footballer
1989 – David Boudia, American diver
1992 – Doc Shaw, American child actor
1994 – Austin Rogers, American actor
1998 – Ryan Newman, American actress

Deaths

624 – Mellitus, Archbishop of Canterbury
709 – Wilfrid, English archbishop and saint
1185 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
1338 – Theodore I of Montferrat (b. 1291)
1342 – Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar and saint (b. 1577)
1656 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561)
1731 – Daniel Defoe, English writer (b. 1660)
1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy, French-born Austrian general (b. 1663)
1779 – Eleazar Wheelock, American founder of Dartmouth College (b. 1711)
1794 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish statesman and soldier; father of Axel von Fersen the Younger (b. 1719)
1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (b. 1783)
1891 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (b. 1800)
1924 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (b. 1844)
1931 – David Kldiashvili, Georgian writer (b. 1862)
1938 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b. 1863)
1939 – Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b. 1881)
1941 – Karin Boye, Swedish author (b. 1900)
1942 – Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
1944 – William Stephens, American politician (b. 1859)
1944 – Charles Jordan, American magician (b. 1888)
1945 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899)
1947 – Willa Cather, American writer (b. 1873)
1947 – Hans Biebow, German WWII figure (b. 1902)
1957 – Harry McClintock, American country singer and hobo (b. 1882)
1960 – Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
1962 – Milt Franklyn, American musician (b. 1897)
1964 – Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist (b. 1895)
1965 – Louise Dresser, American actress (b. 1878)
1966 – Simon Chikovani, Georgian poet (b. 1902)
1967 – Vladimir Komarov, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1927)
1970 – Otis Spann, American blues pianist (b. 1930)
1974 – Bud Abbott, American actor and comedian (b. 1895)
1975 – Pete Ham, Welsh musician (Badfinger) (b. 1947)
1980 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
1982 – Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (b. 1896)
1983 – Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (b. 1943)
1986 – Wallis Simpson (Wallis, Duchess of Windsor), wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor (b. 1896)
1993 – Oliver Tambo, South African politician (b. 1917)
1993 – Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher (b. 1917)
1997 – Pat Paulsen, American comedian and politician (b. 1927)
1997 – Eugene Stoner, American engineer and weapons designer (b. 1922)
2000 – William Moore, English actor (b. 1916)
2001 – Al Hibbler, American singer (b. 1915)
2001 – Leon Sullivan, African-American civil rights leader and pastor (b. 1922)
2002 – Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourgian sculptor (b. 1908)
2004 – José Giovanni, French-Swiss writer and film-maker (b. 1923)
2004 – Estée Lauder, American cosmetics entrepreneur (b. 1906)
2005 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli politician (b. 1924)
2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2006 – Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman and sports team owner (b. 1927)
2006 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (b. 1914)
2006 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
2007 – Roy Jenson, American actor (b. 1927)
2009 – John Michell, British writer (b. 1933)
2011 – Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru, spiritual figure (b. 1926)
2011 – Marie-France Pisier, French actress (b. 1944)