today.nukz.net: Almanac May 14

Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American singer who performed in a range of music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, folk and country.

He started as a songwriter for Connie Francis, and recorded his own first million-seller "Splish Splash" in 1958. This was followed by "Dream Lover", "Mack the Knife" and "Beyond the Sea", which brought him world fame. In 1962, he won a Golden Globe for his first film Come September, co-starring his wife Sandra Dee. Through the 1960s he became more political, and worked on Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign, being present on the night of his assassination. This affected him and sent him into a period of seclusion. Although he made a successful television comeback, his health was starting to fail, as he had always expected, following bouts of rheumatic fever in childhood. This knowledge had always spurred him on to exploit his musical talent while still young. He died at 37, following a heart operation in Los Angeles.

Events

1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
1483 – Coronation of Charles VIII of France (Charles l'Affable).
1509 – Battle of Agnadello: In northern Italy, French forces defeat the Venetians.
1607 – Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony.
1608 – The Protestant Union is founded in Auhausen.
1610 – Henry IV of France is assassinated bringing Louis XIII to the throne.
1643 – Four-year-old Louis XIV becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
1747 – War of the Austrian Succession: A British fleet under Admiral George Anson defeats the French at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre.
1787 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States; George Washington presides.
1796 – Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination.
1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs from Camp Dubois and begins its historic journey by traveling up the Missouri River.
1811 – Paraguay: Pedro Juan Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia start actions to depose the Spanish governor
1836 – The Treaties of Velasco are signed in Velasco, Texas.
1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Jackson takes place.
1868 – Boshin War: The Battle of Utsunomiya Castle ends former Tokugawa shogunate forces withdraw northward to Aizu by way of Nikko.
1870 – The first game of rugby in New Zealand is played in Nelson between Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.
1879 – The first group of 463 Indian indentured laborers arrives in Fiji aboard the Leonidas.
1889 – The children's charity National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is launched in London.
1913 – New York Governor William Sulzer approves the charter for the Rockefeller Foundation, which begins operations with a $100 million donation from John D. Rockefeller.
1925 – Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway is published.
1929 – Wilfred Rhodes takes his 4000th first-class wicket during a performance of 9 for 39 at Leyton; he is the only player in history to have reached that plateau.
1931 – Ådalen shootings: five people are killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers open fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.
1935 – The Philippines ratifies an independence agreement.
1939 – Lina Medina becomes the youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five.
1940 – World War II: Rotterdam is bombed by the German Luftwaffe.
1940 – World War II: The Battle of the Netherlands ends with the Netherlands surrendering to Germany.
1940 – The Yermolayev Yer-2, a long-range Soviet medium bomber, has its first flight.
1943 – A Japanese submarine sinks AHS Centaur off the coast of Queensland.
1948 – Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established. Immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
1951 – Trains run on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales for the first time since preservation, making it the first railway in the world to be operated by volunteers.
1955 – Cold War: Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a mutual defense treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
1961 – American civil rights movement: The Freedom Riders bus is fire-bombed near Anniston, Alabama, and the civil rights protesters are beaten by an angry mob.
1963 – Kuwait joins the United Nations.
1970 – The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.

Launch of the Saturn INT-21, carrying the Skylab space station
1973 – Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
1988 – Carrollton bus collision: a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, United States hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. The crash and ensuing fire kill 27.
2004 – The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturns the impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun.

Births

1316 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1378)
1553 – Margaret of Valois, wife of Henry IV (d. 1615)
1574 – Francesco Rasi, Italian composer, singer (tenor), chitarrone player, and poet (d. 1621)
1630 – Katakura Kagenaga (2nd) (d. 1681)
1652 – Johann Philipp Förtsch, German baroque composer, statesman and doctor (d. 1732)
1666 – Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia (d. 1732)
1679 – Peder Horrebow, Danish astronomer (d. 1764)
1699 – Hans Joachim von Zieten, Prussian field marshal (d. 1786)
1701 – William Emerson, English mathematician (d. 1782)
1710 – King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (d. 1771)
1725 – Ludovico Manin, last Doge of the Republic of Venice (d. 1802)
1727 – Thomas Gainsborough, English painter (d. 1788)
1737 – George Mcartney, Irish-born British statesman (d. 1806)
1752 – Timothy Dwight, American theologian (d. 1817)
1752 – Albrecht Thaer, German agronomist (d. 1828)
1771 – Robert Owen, Welsh social reformer (d. 1858)
1781 – Friedrich Ludwig Georg von Raumer, German historian (d. 1873)
1814 – Charles Beyer, German-British locomotive engineer (d. 1876)
1817 – Alexander Kaufmann, German poet (d. 1893)
1832 – Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (d. 1903)
1832 – Charles Peace, unusual English criminal (d. 1879)
1852 – Henri Julien, French Canadian artist and cartoonist (d. 1908)
1867 – Kurt Eisner, German politician (d. 1919)
1869 – Arthur Rostron, Captain of the Carpathia (d. 1940)
1872 – Elia Dalla Costa, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1961)
1878 – James L. Wilkinson, American baseball executive (d. 1964)
1880 – Wilhelm List, German field marshal (d. 1971)
1881 – G. Murray Hulbert, American politician (d. 1950)
1881 – Ed Walsh, American baseball player (d. 1959)
1885 – Otto Klemperer, German-born conductor (d. 1973)
1890 – Alex Pompez, American baseball executive (d. 1974)
1893 – Louis Verneuil, French playwright (d. 1952)
1897 – Sidney Bechet, American musician (d. 1959)
1897 – Ed Ricketts, American marine biologist (d. 1948)
a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1899" title="1899">1899 – Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (d. 1993)
1899 – Earle Combs, American baseball player (d. 1976)
1900 – Hal Borland, American author (d. 1978)
1900 – Walter Rehberg, Swiss concert pianist, composer and writer (d. 1957)
1900 – Leo Smit, Dutch composer (d. 1943)
1900 – Edgar Wind, German art historian (d. 1971)
1901 – Robert Ritter, German psychologist (d. 1951)
1903 – Billie Dove, American actress (d. 1997)
1904 – Hans Albert Einstein, Swiss-born American professor, son of Albert Einstein and Mileva Maric (d. 1973)
1904 – Marcel Junod, Swiss physician (d. 1961)
1905 – Jean Daniélou, French cardinal (d. 1974)
1905 – Herbert Morrison, American radio announcer (d. 1989)
1907 – Hans von der Groeben, German diplomat (d. 2005)
1907 – Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan (d. 1974)
1907 – Johnny Moss, American professional poker player (d. 1995)
1908 – Betty Jeffrey, Australian nurse, World War II Japanese prisoner (d. 2000)
1916 – Lance Dossor, British-born concert pianist (d. 2005)
1916 – Del Moore, American comedian (d. 1970)
1916 – Marco Zanuso, Italian architect (d. 2001)
1917 – Lou Harrison, American composer (d. 2003)
1917 – Norman Luboff, American music arranger and choir director (d. 1987)
1919 – Solange Chaput-Rolland, French-Canadian journalist and politician (d. 2001)
1919 – John Hope, American meteorologist (d. 2002)
1921 – Richard Deacon, American actor (d. 1984)
1921 – Arve Opsahl, Norwegian actor (d. 2007)
1922 – Franjo Tudman, Croatian politician (d. 1999)
1923 – Adnan Pachachi, Iraqi politician
1923 – Mrinal Sen, Indian film director
1925 – Sophie Kurys, American baseball player
1925 – Patrice Munsel, American opera soprano
1925 – Oona O'Neill, widow of Charlie Chaplin (d. 1991)
1925 – Al Porcino, American jazz trumpet player
1926 – Eric Morecambe, British comedian (d. 1984)
1927 – Herbert W. Franke, Austrian writer
1928 – Will "Dub" Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (d. 2000)
1928 – Brian Macdonald, Canadian dancer
1928 – Frederik H. Kreuger, Dutch scientist and inventor
1929 – Henry McGee, British actor, straight man to Benny Hill (d. 2006)
1929 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
1929 – Barbara Branden, Canadian writer and lecturer
1931 – Alvin Lucier, American composer
1932 – Robert Bechtle, American painter
1933 – Frank Harte, Irish singer and song collector
1933 – Michael Chevalier, German voice actor
1933 – Siân Phillips, Welsh actress
1935 – Rudi Šeligo, Slovenian writer and politician (d. 2004)
1936 – Bobby Darin, American singer (d. 1973)
1936 – Charlie Gracie, American singer
1936 – Dick Howser, American baseball player (d. 1987)
1936 – Waheeda Rehman, Indian actress
1940 – Troy Shondell, American singer
1940 – 'H'. Jones, British Soldier, VC recipient (d. 1982)
1942 – Valeriy Brumel, Soviet high jumper (d. 2003)
1942 – Byron Dorgan, American politician
1942 – Prentis Hancock, British actor
1942 – Tony Pérez, Cuban baseball player
1942 – Rüdiger Vogler, German actor
1943 – Jack Bruce, Scottish bassist (Cream)
1943 – L. Denis Desautels, Canadian accountant and Auditor General of Canada
1943 – Derek Leckenby, British musician (Herman's Hermits) (d. 1994)
1943 – Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland
1943 – Elizabeth Ray, American sex scandal figure
1944 – Gene Cornish, American musician (The Rascals)
1944 – George Lucas, American film director
1945 – Francesca Annis, British actress
1945 – George Nicholls, British rugby league footballer
1945 – Yochanan Vollach, Israeli footballer and president of Maccabi Haifa
1947 – Tamara Dobson, American actress (d. 2006)
1948 – Bob Woolmer, English cricket coach (d. 2007)
1949 – Klaus-Peter Thaler, German cyclist
1949 – Walter Day, founder of Twin Galaxies
1950 – Adolfo Dominguez, Spanish fashion designer
1952 – David Byrne, Scottish-born American musician (Talking Heads)
1952 – Scott Irwin, American wrestler (d. 1987)
1952 – Donald R. McMonagle, American astronaut
1952 – Robert Zemeckis, American film director
1953 – Tom Cochrane, Canadian musician (Red Rider)
1953 – John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (Rush) (d. 2008)
1953 – Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia
1954 – Jens Sparschuh, German writer
1955 – Marie Chouinard, Canadian dancer, choreographer and dance company director
1955 – Dennis Martínez, Nicaraguan baseball player
1955 – Peter Kirsten, South African cricketer
1955 – Alasdair Fraser, Scottish fiddler
1957 – Big Van Vader (born Leon White), American professional wrestler
1958 – Christine Brennan, American sports columnist
1958 – Jan Ravens, English impressionist
1959 – Patrick Bruel, French singer
1959 – Steve Hogarth, British singer (Marillion)
1959 – Rick Vaive, Canadian ice hockey player
1960 – Anne Clark, English singer
1960 – "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, American wrestler (d. 2009)
1960 – Ronan Tynan, Irish singer
1961 – Ulrike Folkerts, German actress
1961 – Jean Leclerc, French-Canadian singer and songwriter
1961 – David Quantick, English writer
1961 – Tim Roth, English actor
1961 – Alain Vigneault, Canadian ice hockey coach
1962 – Ian Astbury, English singer (The Cult)
1962 – C. C. DeVille, American musician (Poison)
1962 – Danny Huston, American actor
1963 – Pat Borders, American baseball player
1964 – James M. Kelly, American astronaut
1964 – Suzy Kolber, American sportscaster
1964 – Eric Peterson, American musician (Testament)
1965 – Eoin Colfer, Irish writer
1966 – Marianne Denicourt, French actress
1966 – Mike Inez, American bassist (Alice in Chains, Black Label Society)
1966 – Fabrice Morvan, French music artist (Milli Vanilli)
1966 – Raphael Saadiq, American vocalist and bassist (Tony! Toni! Toné!)
1967 – Tony Siragusa, American football player
1969 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
1969 – Sabine Schmitz, German race driver and television personality
1969 – Danny Wood, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
1971 – Sofia Coppola, American director
1971 – Nasha Aziz, Malaysian actress and model
1972 – Gabriel Mann, American actor
1972 – Mark Ruskell, England-born Scottish politician
1973 – Natalie Appleton, Canadian-born singer
1973 – Anais Granofsky, Canadian actress and director
1973 – Voshon Lenard, American basketball player
1973 – Julian White, English rugby player
1973 – Shanice, American singer
1974 – Jennifer Allan, American model
1974 – Krister Axel, American poet and songwriter
1975 – Nicki Sørensen, Danish road bicycle racer
1976 – Hunter Burgan, American bassist (AFI)
1976 – Brian Lawrence, American baseball player
1976 – Martine McCutcheon, British actress
1977 – Sophie Anderton, English model and television personality
1977 – Roy Halladay, American baseball player
1977 – Ada Nicodemou, Australian actress
1977 – Pusha T, American rapper
1978 – Brent Harvey, Australian footballer
1978 – Eddie House, American basketball player
1978 – André Macanga, Angolan footballer
1978 – Gustavo Varela, Uruguayan footballer
1979 – Clinton Morrison, English-born Irish footballer
1979 – Edwige Lawson-Wade, French basketball player
1979 – Carlos Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer
1980 – Zdenek Grygera, Czech footballer
1980 – Eugene Martineau, Dutch decathlete
1980 – Júlia Sebestyén, Hungarian figure skater
1980 – Hugo Southwell, Scottish rugby union player
1982 – BeardyMan, English beatboxer
1982 – Ai Shibata, Japanese swimmer
1983 – Anahí, Mexican actress and singer (RBD)
1983 – Keeley Donovan, English news and weather presenter
1983 – Frank Gore, American football player
1983 – Uroš Slokar, Slovenian basketball player
1983 – Amber Tamblyn, American actress
1983 – Tom Welham, British musician (Thirteen Senses)
1984 – Gary Ablett, Jr., Australian rules footballer
1984 – Michael Rensing, German footballer
1984 – Nigel Reo-Coker, English footballer
1984 – Mark Zuckerberg, American internet entrepreneur, co-founder of Facebook
1984 – Olly Murs, English singer and TV presenter.
1984 – Luke Gregerson, American baseball player
1985 – Sally Martin, New Zealand actress
1985 – Simona Peycheva, Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast
1985 – Zack Ryder, American professional wrestler
1986 – Alyosha, Ukrainian singer
1986 – Marco Motta, Italian footballer
1986 – Andrea Bovo, Italian footballer
1986 – Sarbel, Greek-born singer
1986 – Camila Sodi, Mexican actress
1987 – Franck Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer
1987 – François Steyn, South African rugby union player
1988 – Jayne Appel, American basketball player
1990 – Emily Samuelson, American ice dancer
1993 – Miranda Cosgrove, American actress and singer

Deaths

964 – Pope John XII (b. 927)
1219 – Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, Anglo-Norman knight and regent during the early reign of Henry III (b. 1187)
1470 – Charles VIII of Sweden, king of Sweden and Norway (b. 1409)
1574 – Guru Amar Das, third Sikh Guru (b. 1479)
1608 – Charles III, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1543)
1610 – King Henry IV of France (b. 1553)
1643 – King Louis XIII of France (b. 1601)
1649 – Friedrich Spanheim, Swiss theologian (b. 1600)
1669 – Georges de Scudéry, French writer (b. 1601)
1688 – Antoine Furetière, French writer (b. 1619)
1754 – Pierre-Claude Nivelle de La Chaussée, French writer (b. 1692)
1761 – Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (b. 1710)
1818 – Matthew Gregory Lewis, English novelist (b. 1775)
1847 – Fanny Mendelssohn, German composer and pianist (b. 1805)
1860 – Ludwig Bechstein, German writer (b. 1801)
1873 – Gideon Brecher, Austrian physician and writer (b. 1797)
1878 – Ookubo Toshimichi, Japanese statesman, samurai, and one of the "three great nobles" who led the Meiji Restoration (b. 1830)
1887 – Lysander Spooner, American philosopher (b. 1808)
1889 – Volney E. Howard, American politician (b. 1809)
1893 – Ernst Kummer, German mathematician (b. 1810)
1906 – Carl Schurz, German revolutionary and statesman (b. 1829)
1912 – King Frederick VIII of Denmark (b. 1843)
1912 – August Strindberg, Swedish playwright, novelist and essayist (b. 1849)
1918 – James Gordon Bennett, Jr., American newspaper publisher (b. 1841)
1919 – Henry J. Heinz, German-American businessman, founder of the H. J. Heinz Company (b. 1844)
1923 – Charles de Freycinet, Prime Minister of France (b. 1828)
1925 – H. Rider Haggard, English author (b. 1856)
1931 – David Belasco, American theatrical producer (b. 1853)
1931 – Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (b. 1887)
1934 – Lou Criger, American baseball player (b. 1872)
1934 – Baikuntha Shukla ,Indian Freedom Fighter(b.1907)
1936 – Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby, British general (b. 1861)
1940 – Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born anarchist (b. 1869)
1943 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1854)
1945 – Heber J. Grant, seventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1856)
1954 – Heinz Guderian, German General (b. 1888)
1956 – Joan Malleson, English physician (b. 1889)
1957 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (b. 1884)
1959 – Sidney Bechet, American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist (b. 1897)
1959 – Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal, mother of Empress Zita of Austria (b. 1862)
1962 – Florence Auer, American actress (b. 1880)
1968 – Husband E. Kimmel, American admiral (b. 1882)
1969 – Frederick Lane, Australian swimmer (b. 1888)
1969 – Enid Bennett, Australian silent film actress (b. 1893)
1970 – Billie Burke, American actress (b. 1884)
1973 – Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist and poet (b. 1905)
1976 – Keith Relf, British singer and musician (The Yardbirds) (b. 1943)
1980 – Hugh Griffith, Welsh actor (b. 1912)
1982 – Hugh Beaumont, American actor (b. 1909)
1982 – Lady of Ro, Greek patriot (b. 1890)
1983 – Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
1983 – Miguel Alemán Valdés, President of Mexico (b. 1900)
1984 – Walter Rauff, German colonel (b. 1906)
1985 – Barbara Yung Mei-ling, Hong Kong actress (b. 1959)
1986 – Janne Aikala, Finnish murder victim (b. 1975)
1987 – Rita Hayworth, American actress (b. 1918)
1987 – Vitomil Zupan, Slovenian writer (b. 1914)
1988 – Willem Drees, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
1989 – Mary Lalopoulou, Greek actress (b. 1926)
1991 – Jiang Qing, widow of Mao Zedong (b. 1914)
1992 – Lyle Alzado, American football player (b. 1949)
1992 – Nie Rongzhen, Chinese Communist military leader (b. 1899)
1993 – Patrick Haemers, Belgian criminal (b. 1953)
1993 – William Randolph Hearst Jr., American newspaper magnate (b. 1908)
1995 – Christian B. Anfinsen, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1916)
1997 – Harry Blackstone, Jr., American stage magician (b. 1934)
1998 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas, American conservationist (b. 1890)
1998 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (b. 1915)
2000 – Obuchi Keizo, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1937)
2001 – Gil Langley, Australian cricketer, footballer and politician (b. 1919)
2003 – Dave DeBusschere, American basketball player (b. 1940)
2003 – Wendy Hiller, British actress (b. 1912)
2003 – Robert Stack, American actor (b. 1919)
2004 – Anna Lee, British actress (b. 1913)
2006 – Lew Anderson, American actor and bandleader (b. 1922)
2006 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet (b. 1905)
2006 – Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (b. 1944)
2007 – Mary Goldsmith, American ceramist (b. 1908)
2007 – Ülo Jõgi, Estonian freedom fighter (b. 1921)
2010 – Goh Keng Swee, former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1918)