today.nukz.net: Almanac April 8

Carmen Mercedes McRae (April 8, 1920 – November 10, 1994) American jazz singer, composer, pianist, and actress. Considered one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th century, it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics that made her memorable.[1] McRae drew inspiration from Billie Holiday, but established her own distinctive voice. She went on to record over 60 albums, enjoying a rich musical career, performing and recording in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

Events

217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
1271 – In Syria, sultan Baybars conquers the Krak of Chevaliers.
1730 – Shearith Israel, the first synagogue in New York City, is dedicated.
1740 – War of Jenkin's Ear: Three British ships capture the Spanish third-rate Princesa.
1767 – Ayutthaya kingdom falls to Burmese invaders.
1808 – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Baltimore is promoted to an archdiocese, with the founding of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (now Louisville) by Pope Pius VII.
1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
1832 – Black Hawk War: Around three-hundred United States 6th Infantry troops leave St. Louis, Missouri to fight the Sauk Native Americans.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Mansfield – Union forces are thwarted by the Confederate army at Mansfield, Louisiana.
1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against the Austrian Empire.
1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
1893 – The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the Supreme Court of the United States declares unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
1904 – The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale.
1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of The Book of the Law.
1904 – Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
1906 – Auguste Deter, the first person to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, dies.
1908 – Harvard University votes to establish the Harvard Business School.
1911 – Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovers superconductivity.
1913 – The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, becomes law.
1916 – In Corona, California, race car driver Bob Burman crashes, killing three, and badly injuring five, spectators.
1918 – World War I: Actors Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin sell war bonds on the streets of New York City's financial district.
1929 – Indian Independence Movement: At the Delhi Central Assembly, Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt throw handouts and bombs to court arrest.
1935 – The Works Progress Administration is formed when the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 becomes law.
1942 – World War II: Siege of Leningrad – Soviet forces open a much-needed railway link to Leningrad.
1942 – World War II: The Japanese take Bataan in the Philippines.
1943 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
1945 – World War II: After an air raid accidentally destroys a train carrying about 4,000 Nazi concentration camp internees in Prussian Hanover, the survivors are massacred by Nazis.
1946 – The last meeting of the League of Nations, the precursor of the United Nations, is held.
1946 – Électricité de France, the world's largest utility company, is formed as a result of the nationalisation of a number of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
1950 – India and Pakistan sign the Liaquat-Nehru Pact.
1952 – U.S. President Harry Truman calls for the seizure of all domestic steel mills to prevent a nationwide strike.
1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta is convicted by Kenya's British rulers.
1954 – A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collided with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 37 people.
1954 – South African Airways Flight 201 A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1 crashes into the sea during night killing 21 people.
1959 – A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL.
1959 – The Organization of American States drafts an agreement to create the Inter-American Development Bank.
1960 – The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
1961 – A large explosion on board the MV Dara in the Persian Gulf kills 238.
1968 – BOAC Flight 712 catches fire shortly after take off. As a result of her actions in the accident, Barbara Jane Harrison is awarded a posthumous George Cross, the only GC awarded to a woman in peacetime.
1970 – Bahr el-Baqar incident: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. 46 children are killed.
1974 – At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth's 39-year-old record.
1975 – Frank Robinson manages the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball's first African American manager.
1985 – Bhopal disaster: India files suit against Union Carbide for the disaster which killed an estimated 2,000 and injured another 200,000.
1987 – Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigns amid controversy over racially charged remarks he had made while on Nightline.
1992 – Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries.
1993 – The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations.
1999 – Haryana Gana Parishad, a political party in the Indian state of Haryana, merges with the Indian National Congress.
2004 – Darfur conflict: The Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement is signed by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups.
2005 – Over four million people attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
2008 – The construction of the world's first building to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain.

Births

1320 – Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
1336 – Timur, Asian-Turkic conqueror (d. 1405)
1533 – Claudio Merulo, Italian composer (d. 1604)
1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician (d. 1593)
1605 – Philip IV of Spain, (d. 1665)
1641 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (d. 1704)
1692 – Giuseppe Tartini, Italian composer (d. 1770)
1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer, inventor, and mathematician (d. 1796)
1761 – Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, French priest, founder of the Society of Mary (d. 1850)
1818 – August Wilhelm von Hofmann, German chemist (d. 1892)
1818 – Christian IX of Denmark (d. 1906)
1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican soldier, first woman in the military (d. 1890)
1827 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican politician, doctor and diplomat (d. 1898)
1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, American author, wife of George Armstrong Custer (d. 1933)
1859 – Edmund Husserl, Austrian philosopher (d. 1938)
1865 – Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist (d. 1940)
1869 – Harvey Cushing, American neurosurgeon (d. 1939)
1871 – Clarence Hudson White American photographer (d. 1925)
1874 – Stanislaw Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
1875 – Albert I of Belgium (d. 1934)
1883 – R. P. Keigwin, English academic (d. 1972)
1885 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek composer (d. 1951)
1888 – Dennis Chavez, American politician (d. 1964)
1889 – Adrian Boult, British conductor (d. 1983)
1892 – Richard Neutra, American architect (d. 1970)
1892 – Mary Pickford, Canadian actress (d. 1979)
1896 – Yip Harburg, American lyricist (d. 1981)
1902 – Andrew Irvine, British mountaineer (d. 1924)
1902 – Maria Maksakova, Sr., Soviet opera singer (d. 1974)
1904 – John Hicks, British economist, Bank of Sweden Prize winner (d. 1989)
1904 – Hirsch Jacobs, American horse trainer and owner (d. 1970)
1905 – Helen Joseph, South African activist (d. 1992)
1905 – Erwin Keller, German field hockey player (d. 1971)
1906 – Raoul Jobin, French-Canadian tenor (d. 1974)
1908 – Hugo Fregonese, Argentine director (d. 1987)
1909 – John Fante, American novelist (d. 1983)
1910 – George Musso, American football player (d. 2000)
1911 – Melvin Calvin, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
1911 – Emil Cioran, Romanian philosopher (d. 1995)
1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann's assistant (d. 1996)
1912 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater and actress (d. 1969)
1914 – María Félix, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
1918 – Betty Ford, American First Lady and founder of the Betty Ford Center (d. 2011)
1918 – Glendon Swarthout, American author (d. 1992)
1919 – Ian Smith, Zimbabwean politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (d. 2007)
1920 – Carmen McRae, American singer, composer, pianist, and actress (d. 1994)
1921 – Franco Corelli, Italian tenor (d. 2003)
1921 – Jan Novák, Czech composer (d. 1984)
1923 – George Fisher, American cartoonist (d. 2003)
1923 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (d. 1997)
1924 – Frédéric Back, German-Canadian director and screenwriter
1924 – Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English soldier and historian (d. 2006)
1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect, co-founder of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
1926 – Shecky Greene, American comedian
1926 – Shirley Mills, American actress (d. 2010)
1926 – Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian
1927 – Tilly Armstrong, British novelist (d. 2010)
1928 – Leah Rabin, Israeli widow of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin(d. 2000)
1928 – Monty Sunshine, English jazz clarinetist (d. 2010)
1929 – Walter Berry, Austrian bass-baritone (d. 2000)
1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgian singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1978)
1929 – Renzo De Felice, Italian historian (d. 1996)
1930 – Carlos Hugo of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of Parma (d. 2010)
1931 – John Gavin, American actor and politician
1932 – Iskandar of Johor, Malaysian leader, 24th Sultan of Johor and the 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia (d. 2010)
1933 – Fred Ebb, American composer (d. 2004)
1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (d. 2007)
1935 – Albert Bustamante, American politician
1935 – Oscar Zeta Acosta, American attorney, politician, and Chicano Movement activist (d. 1974?)
1937 – Seymour Hersh, American journalist
1938 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat, 7th United Nations Secretary General
1938 – John Hamm, Canadian politician
1939 – Mary Leona Gage, American model and actress, Miss USA 1957 (d. 2010)
1940 – John Havlicek, American basketball player
1941 – Darlene Gillespie, Canadian-American actress
1941 – Vivienne Westwood, English fashion designer and businesswoman
1942 – Roger Chapman, British singer (Family and Streetwalkers)
1942 – Douglas Trumbull, American director
1943 – Tony Banks, British politician (d. 2006)
1943 – Michael Bennett, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1987)
1943 – Miller Farr, American football player
1944 – Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor
1944 – Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
1945 – Derrick Walker, British racing team owner
1946 – Catfish Hunter, American baseball player (d. 1999)
1946 – Stuart Pankin, American actor
1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor
1947 – Tom DeLay, American politician
1947 – Steve Howe, English guitarist (Yes, Asia, and GTR)
1947 – Robert Kiyosaki, American investor
1947 – Pascal Lamy, French political advisor, and businessman, 8th Director-General of the World Trade Organization
1947 – Larry Norman, American singer, songwriter, and producer (People!) (d. 2008)
1948 – Michael Leshner, Canadian lawyer and gay rights advocate
1949 – John Madden, English director
1949 – Brenda Russell, American singer-songwriter and keyboardist
1950 – Grzegorz Lato, Polish footballer
1951 – Gerd Andres, German politician
1951 – Geir Haarde, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland
1954 – Gary Carter, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1954 – G.V. Loganathan, Indian-American professor (d. 2007)
1955 – Ricky Bell, American football player (d. 1984)
1955 – Gerrie Coetzee, South African boxer
1955 – Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
1955 – Ron Johnson, American politician
1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist
1955 – David Wu, Taiwanese-American politician
1956 – Christine Boisson, French actress
1956 – Jim Piddock, English actor, writer, and producer
1956 – Justin Sullivan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (New Model Army)
1957 – Fred Smerlas, American football player
1958 – Detlef Bruckhoff, German footballer
1960 – John Schneider, American actor
1961 – Élise Guilbault, Canadian actress
1961 – Richard Hatch, American corporate trainer and winner of Survivor: Borneo
1962 – Evan Davis, British journalist and economist
1962 – Paddy Lowe, British engineer
1962 – Izzy Stradlin, American musician (Guns N' Roses and Hollywood Rose)
1963 – Julian Lennon, English singer songwriter, actor, and photographer
1963 – Terry Porter, American basketball player and coach
1963 – Donita Sparks, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (L7)
1963 – Alec Stewart, English cricketer
1963 – Seth Tobias, American financial commentator (d. 2007)
1964 – Lisa Guerrero, American sports broadcaster
1964 – Biz Markie, American rapper and actor (Juice Crew)
1964 – John McGinlay, Scottish footballer
1965 – Steven Blaney, Canadian politician
1965 – Michael Jones, New Zealand rugby player and coach
1966 – Mark Blundell, British race car driver
1966 – Dalton Grant, British high jumper
1966 – Mazinho, Brazilian footballer
1966 – Bobby Ologun, Nigerian mixed martial artist
1966 – Evripidis Stylianidis, Greek politician
1966 – Robin Wright, American actress
1967 – Arwyn Davies, Welsh actor
1968 – Patricia Arquette, American actress
1968 – Patricia Girard-Léno, French athlete
1968 – Tracy Grammer, American singer (Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer)
1972 – Paul Gray, American bassist and songwriter (Slipknot and Unida) (d. 2010)
1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
1973 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
1973 – Alex S. Gonzalez, American baseball player
1974 – Chino XL, American rapper and actor
1974 – Holger Hott Johansen, Norwegian orienteerist
1974 – Nnedi Okorafor, Nigerian-American writer
1974 – Nayden Todorov, Bulgarian conductor
1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
1975 – Francesco Flachi, Italian footballer
1975 – Timo Pérez, Dominican baseball player
1977 – Mehran Ghassemi, Iranian journalist (d. 2008)
1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer
1978 – Bernt Haas, Swiss footballer
1978 – Ana de la Reguera, Mexican actress
1978 – Rachel Roberts, Canadian model and actress
1978 – Jocelyn Robichaud, Canadian tennis player
1979 – Jeremy Guthrie, American baseball player
1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish singer and guitarist (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, and Kylähullut)
1980 – Manuel Ortega, Austrian singer
1980 – Katee Sackhoff, American actress
1981 – Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
1981 – Brian Burres, American baseball player
1981 – Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
1981 – Lito Sheppard, American football player
1983 – Allu Arjun, Indian actor
1983 – Adrian Bellani, American actor
1984 – Ezra Koenig, American singer (Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors)
1984 – Júlia Liptáková, Slovak model
1984 – Taran Noah Smith, American actor
1984 – Kirsten Storms, American actress
1985 – Patrick Schliwa, German rugby player
1986 – Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
1986 – Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
1986 – Bridget Kelly, American singer-songwriter
1986 – Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress, model and singer
1987 – Royston Drenthe, Dutch footballer
1987 – Jeremy Hellickson, American baseball player
1988 – Kim Myung-Sung, South Korean baseball player
1989 – Alex Day, British musician (Chameleon Circuit)
1989 – Alex DeLeon, American singer (The Cab)
1989 – Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer
1990 – Jonghyun, Korean singer, songwriter, and dancer (Shinee and SM The Ballad)
1991 – Minami Takahashi, Japanese actress and singer (AKB48 and no3b)
1992 – Shelby Young, American actress

Deaths

217 – Caracalla, Roman Emperor (b. 188)
956 – Gilbert of Chalon, Duke of Burgundy
1143 – John II Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1087)
1364 – King John II of France (b. 1319)
1461 – Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
1586 – Martin Chemnitz, Lutheran reformer and theologian (b. 1522)
1587 – John Foxe, English writer (b. 1516)
1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect (b. 1611)
1697 – Niels Juel, Danish admiral (b. 1629)
1704 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist (b. 1624)
1704 – Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney, English statesman (b. 1641)
1725 – John Wise, English clergyman (b. 1652)
1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, Hungarian aristocrat, leader of the Hungarian uprising (b. 1676)
1848 – Gaetano Donizetti, Italian composer (b. 1797)
1857 – Mangal Pandey, Indian soldier (b. 1827)
1861 – Elisha Otis, American industrialist, founder of the Otis Elevator Company (b. 1811)
1870 – Charles de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (b. 1802)
1906 – Auguste Deter, German woman, first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (b. 1850)
1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist (b. 1848)
1920 – Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (b. 1884)
1931 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
1936 – Robert Bárány, Austrian physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1876)
1942 – Kostas Skarvelis, Greek composer (b. 1880)
1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish ballet dancer (b. 1890)
1958 – Ethel Turner, Australian author (b. 1872)
1965 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)
1968 – Barbara Jane Harrison, British air stewardess (b.1945)
1973 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist and sculptor (b. 1881)
1974 – James Charles McGuigan, Canadian archbishop (b. 1894)
1978 – Ford Frick, American baseball commissioner (b. 1894)
1981 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1894)
1985 – J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (b. 1897)
1986 – Yukiko Okada, Japanese singer, actress, and model (b. 1967)
1990 – Ryan White, American AIDS activist (b. 1971)
1991 – Per Yngve "Dead" Ohlin, Swedish singer and musician (Mayhem and Morbid) (b. 1969)
1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1907)
1993 – Marian Anderson, American contralto (b. 1897)
1994 – François Rozet, French-Canadian actor (b. 1899)
1996 – George W. Jenkins, American businessman and philanthropist, founder of Publix Super Markets (b. 1907)
1996 – Ben Johnson, American actor (b. 1918)
1996 – León Klimovsky, Argentine director (b. 1906)
1997 – Laura Nyro, American singer, pianist, and composer (b. 1947)
2000 – František Štastný, Czech motorcycle racer (b. 1927)
2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
2002 – María Félix, Mexican actress (b. 1914)
2004 – Enda Colleran, Gaelic footballer (b. 1941)
2005 – Eddie Miksis, American baseball player (b. 1926)
2005 – Onna White, Canadian choreographer (b. 1924)
2006 – Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (b. 1923)
2007 – Sol LeWitt, American artist (b. 1928)
2008 – Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley (b. 1928)
2008 – John Button, Australian politician (b. 1933)
2008 – Stanley Kamel, American actor (b. 1943)
2009 – Piotr Morawski, Polish mountaineer (b. 1976)
2010 – Jack Agnew, Irish-American Army Private (b. 1922)
2010 – Malcolm McLaren, British music manager (b. 1946)
2010 – Teddy Scholten, Dutch singer (b. 1926)
2011 – Hedda Sterne, Romanian-born American artist (b. 1910)