today.nukz.net: Almanac May 16

Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American film and stage actor. Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins. He made his Hollywood debut in 1935, and his career gained momentum after his Academy Award-nominated performance as Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, a 1940 adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west during the Dust Bowl. Throughout six decades in Hollywood, Fonda cultivated a strong, appealing screen image in such classics as The Ox-Bow Incident, Mister Roberts and 12 Angry Men. Later, Fonda moved both toward darker epics as Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West and lighter roles in family comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours with Lucille Ball. Fonda was the patriarch of a family of famous actors, including daughter Jane Fonda, son Peter Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda, and grandson Troy Garity. His family and close friends called him "Hank". In 1999, he was named the sixth-Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.

Events

218 – Julia Maesa, aunt of the assassinated Caracalla, is banished to her home in Syria by the self-proclaimed emperor Macrinus and declares her 14-year old grandson Elagabalus, emperor of Rome.
1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
1770 – 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.
1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The "Regulators", occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
1811 – Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
1812 – Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812. Bessarabia is illegitimately annexed by Imperial Russia.
1822 – Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
1843 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.
1866 – The U.S. Congress eliminates the half dime coin and replaces it with the five cent piece, or nickel.
1868 – President Andrew Johnson is acquitted in his impeachment trial by one vote in the United States Senate.
1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
1877 – 16 May 1877 political crisis in France.
1891 – The International Electro-Technical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, and will feature the world's first long distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electrical current (the most common form today).
1914 – The first ever Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final is played. Brooklyn Field Club defeats Brooklyn Celtic 2-1.
1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
1919 – A naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.
1929 – In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
1943 – Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
1948 – Chaim Weizmann is elected the first President of Israel.
1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
1953 – American journalist William N. Oatis is released after serving 22 months of a ten-year prison sentence for espionage in Czechslovakia.
1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup d'état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.
1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the "May 16 Notice", marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.
1974 – Josip Broz Tito is re-elected president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This time he is elected for life.
1975 – India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote is in favor of merging with India.
1975 – Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
1983 – Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement rebels against the Sudanese government.
1986 – The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
1988 – A report by United States' Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
2003 – In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
2005 – Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.
2007 – Nicolas Sarkozy takes office as President of France.
2011 – STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Births

1578 – Everard Digby, English conspirator, member of the failed Gunpowder Plot (d. 1606)
1611 – Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689)
1710 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician (d. 1782)
1718 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician (d. 1799)
1763 – Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French pharmacist (d. 1829)
1788 – Friedrich Rückert, German Poet, translator, and orientalist (d. 1866)
1801 – William H. Seward, American politician and diplomat (d. 1872)
1821 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician (d. 1894)
1824 – Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (d. 1920)
1827 – Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect, designed the Rijksmuseum (d. 1921)
1831 – David E. Hughes, English scientist and musician, co-inventor of the microphone (d. 1900)
1845 – Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, Russian microbiologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1916)
1861 – H. H. Holmes, American serial killer (d. 1896)
1888 – Royal Rife, American inventor (d. 1971)
1891 – Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor, conductor, and composer (d. 1948)
1897 – Zvi Sliternik, Israeli entomologist (d. 1994)
1898 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish painter (d. 1980)
1898 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director (d. 1956)
1905 – Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
1906 – Alfred Pellan, Canadian painter (d. 1988)
1906 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan writer (d. 2001)
1906 – Margret Rey, German author and illustrator (d. 1996)
1909 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (d. 1960)
1910 – Olga Berggolts, Russian poet (d. 1975)
1910 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter (d. 1972)
1912 – Studs Terkel, American writer (d. 2008)
1913 – Woody Herman, American singer, musician, and bandleader (d. 1987)
1914 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
1916 – Adriana Caselotti, American actress (d. 1997)
1916 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli politician (d. 2009)
1917 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican novelist (d. 1986)
1917 – James C. Murray, American politician (d. 1999)
1917 – George Gaynes, American actor
1918 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer (d. 2000)
1919 – Liberace, American singer, pianist, and actor (d. 1987)
1919 – Ramon Margalef, Spanish scientist (d. 2004)
1920 – Martine Carol, French actress (d. 1967)
1921 – Harry Carey, Jr., American actor
1921 – S. Neil Fujita, American graphic designer (d. 2010)
1923 – Merton Miller, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
1923 – Victoria Fromkin, American linguist (d. 2000)
1923 – Peter Underwood, English author, broadcaster, and paranormalist
1925 – Bobbejaan Schoepen, Belgian singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 2010)
1925 – Nancy Roman, American astronomer
1926 – Ronald Podrow, English activist (d. 2004)
1927 – Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer
1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)
1929 – John Conyers, American politician
1929 – Claude Morin, Canadian politician
1929 – Adrienne Rich, American writer (d. 2012)
1930 – Betty Carter, American singer (d. 1998)
1930 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 2000)
1931 – Jack Dodson, American actor (d. 1994)
1931 – Denise Filiatrault, Canadian actress and director
1931 – Natwar Singh, Indian politician
1931 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American politician
1931 – Hana Brady, Polish Holocaust victim (d. 1944)
1935 – Floyd Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
1936 – Roy Hudd, English actor
1936 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal
1937 – Yvonne Craig, American actress
1943 – Dan Coats, American politician
1943 – Marko Kravos, Slovenian poet
1944 – Billy Cobham, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (Mahavishnu Orchestra, New York Jazz Quartet, Jazz Is Dead, and Bobby and the Midnites)
1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor
1945 – Nicky Chinn, English songwriter and producer
1945 – Alan Flusser, American fashion designer and author
1945 – Marta Beatriz Roque, Cuban dissident and economist
1946 – Robert Fripp, English musician, songwriter, and producer (King Crimson, Fripp & Eno, and The League of Gentlemen)
1946 – Roger Earl, English drummer (Savoy Brown and Foghat)
1947 – Barbara Lee, American singer (The Chiffons) (d. 1992)
1947 – Bill Smitrovich, American actor
1947 – Darrel Sweet, English drummer (Nazareth) (d. 1999)
1947 – Roch Thériault, Canadian murder (d. 2011)
1948 – Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress
1948 – Judy Finnegan, English broadcaster and columnist
1948 – Adrian Legg, English guitarist, songwriter, and educator
1948 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor
1949 – Rick Reuschel, American baseball player
1950 – J. Georg Bednorz, German physicist, Nobel laureate
1950 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician (d. 2004)
1951 – Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
1951 – Jonathan Richman, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Modern Lovers)
1952 – James Herndon, American psychologist
1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor
1953 – Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 55th Yokozuna
1954 – Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
1955 – Olga Korbut, Belarussian gymnast
1955 – Jack Morris, American baseball player
1955 – Hazel O'Connor, English singer-songwriter and actress
1957 – Yuri Shevchuk, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist (DDT)
1955 – Debra Winger, American actress
1958 – Glenn Gregory, English singer and musician (Heaven 17, Honeyroot, and ABC)
1958 – Gitane Demone, American singer and musician (Christian Death and Pompeii 99)
1959 – Mitch Webster, American baseball player
1959 – Mare Winningham, American actress
1960 – Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician
1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian comedian and actor
1961 – Charles Wright, American wrestler
1963 – Jon Coffelt, American artist
1963 – Mercedes Echerer, Austrian actress and politician
1963 – Serge Teyssot-Gay, French guitarist (Noir Désir)
1964 – John Salley, American basketball player
1964 – Boyd Tinsley, American singer, musician, and composer (Dave Matthews Band)
1964 – Edit Berces, Hungarian runner
1965 – Krist Novoselic, American musician, songwriter, author, and activist (Nirvana, Flipper, Sweet 75, The No WTO Combo, and Eyes Adrift)
1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
1966 – Scott Reeves, American singer-songwriter and actor (Blue County)
1966 – Thurman Thomas, American football player
1967 – Doug Brocail, American baseball player
1968 – Ralph Tresvant, American singer, actor, and producer (New Edition and Heads of State)
1968 – Chingmy Yau, Hong Kong actress
1969 – David Boreanaz, American actor
1969 – Tucker Carlson, American journalist
1969 – Tracey Gold, American actress
1969 – Steve Lewis, American athlete
1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
1970 – Danielle Spencer, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
1971 – Rachel Goswell, English singer-songwriter and musician (Slowdive and Mojave 3)
1972 – Derek Mears, American actor
1972 – Khary Payton, American actor
1972 – Christian Califano, French rugby player
1973 – Jason Acuña, American television host and actor
1973 – Special Ed, American rapper and actor (Crooklyn Dodgers)
1973 – Tori Spelling, American actress and author
1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer-songwriter and rapper (P.O.D.)
1974 – Adam Richman, American actor and television host
1975 – Tony Kakko, Finnish singer-songwriter and musician (Sonata Arctica and Northern Kings)
1975 – B.Slade, American singer-songwriter, musician, producer, dancer, and actor
1976 – Brian Langtry, American lacrosse player
1976 – Dirk Nannes, Dutch-Australian cricketer
1977 – Dolcenera, Italian singer-songwriter, musician, and actress
1977 – Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress
1977 – Emiliana Torrini Icelandic singer-songwriter (GusGus)
1978 – David Ford, English singer-songwriter (Easyworld)
1978 – Lionel Scaloni, Argentine footballer
1979 – McKenzie Lee, English porn actress
1980 – Mikel Alonso, Spanish footballer
1980 – Melanie Lofton, American journalist
1980 – Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player
1981 – Taavi Rähn, Estonian footballer
1981 – Jim Sturgess, English actor
1981 – Joseph Morgan, English actor
1982 – Billy Crawford, Filipino-American singer-songwriter, actor, and philanthropist
1982 – Joo Ji Hoon, Korean actor and model
1982 – Lukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
1982 – Hanna Mariën, Belgian athlete
1983 – Nancy Ajram, Lebanese singer
1983 – Daniel Kerr, Australian footballer
1983 – Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Dario Cvitanich, Argentinian footballer
1984 – Tomas Fleischmann, Czech ice hockey player
1984 – Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
1984 – Mickie Knuckles, American wrestler
1984 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
1985 – Rodrigo Peters Marques, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Stanislav Ianevski, Bulgarian actor
1985 – Anja Mittag, German footballer
1985 – Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
1985 – Tadayoshi Okura, Japanese singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor (Kanjani Eight)
1986 – Megan Fox, American actress
1986 – Andy Keogh, Irish footballer
1987 – Tom Onslow-Cole, English race car driver
1990 – Thomas Sangster, English actor
1990 – Darko Sarovic, Serbian sprinter
1991 – Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player
1992 – Jeff Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player
1993 – IU, South Korean singer and actress
1994 – Miles Heizer, American actor
1998 – Ariel Waller, Canadian actress

Deaths

583 – Brendan, Irish navigator and saint (b. 484)
1265 – Simon Stock, English saint (b. 1165)
1569 – Dirk Willems, Dutch Anabaptist
1620 – William Adams, English sailor (b. 1564)
1657 – Andrew Bobola, Polish missionary (b. 1591)
1667 – Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English statesman (b. 1607)
1669 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect (b. 1596)
1691 – Jacob Leisler, American colonist (b. 1640)
1703 – Charles Perrault, French author (b. 1628)
1778 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat (b. 1718)
1782 – Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (b. 1736)
1790 – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician (b. 1720)
1830 – Joseph Fourier, French scientist (b. 1768)
1882 – Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician (b. 1799)
1891 – Ion Bratianu, Romanian statesman (b. 1821)
1913 – Louis Perrier, Swiss politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1849)
1920 – Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (b. 1824)
1926 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1861)
1943 – Alfred Hoche, German psychiatrist (b. 1865)
1944 – George Ade, American author (b. 1866)
1947 – Frederick Hopkins, English biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1861)
1953 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (Quintette du Hot Club de France) (b. 1910)
1954 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (b. 1893)
1955 – James Agee, American writer (b. 1909)
1956 – H. B. Reese, American candy-maker and businessman, created Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (b. 1876)
1957 – Eliot Ness, American federal agent (b. 1903)
1959 – Elisha Scott, Irish footballer (b. 1894)
1961 – George A. Malcolm, American jurist and educator (b. 1881)
1969 – Robert Rayford, American AIDS victim (b. 1954)
1975 – Al Helfer, American sportscaster (b. 1911)
1977 – Modibo Keita, Malian politician, 1st President of Mali (b. 1915)
1979 – A. Philip Randolph, American civil rights activist and labor union leader (b. 1889)
1981 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist and arranger (b. 1922)
1984 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (b. 1949)
1984 – Irwin Shaw, American author (b. 1913)
1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
1988 – Charles Keeping, English illustrator (b. 1924)
1988 – George Pyrounakis, Greek priest (b. 1910)
1990 – Sammy Davis, Jr., American singer, dancer, and actor (b. 1925)
1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, director, and producer, created The Muppets (b. 1936)
1992 – Chalino Sánchez, Mexican singer-songwriter (b. 1960)
1993 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1938)
1994 – Alain Cuny, French actor (b. 1908)
1996 – Jeremy Michael Boorda, American admiral (b. 1939)
1997 – Elbridge Durbrow, American diplomat (b. 1903)
2000 – Bodacious, American rodeo bull (b. 1988)
2001 – Brian Pendleton, English musician (The Pretty Things) (b. 1944)
2002 – Alec Campbell, Australian soldier (b. 1899)
2002 – Alex Rizzo, American wrestler (b. 1968)
2003 – Mark McCormack, American lawyer, sports agent, and writer, founder of IMG (b. 1930)
2005 – Andrew Goodpaster, American army general (b. 1915)
2008 – David Mitton, English director (b. 1939)
2008 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker, co-founded Opus One Winery (b. 1913)
2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer, musician, and producer (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell, and Elf) (b. 1942)
2010 – Hank Jones, American pianist, bandleader, and composer (b. 1918)
2011 – Bob Davis, Australian footballer (b. 1928)
2011 – Bill Skiles, American comedian (b. 1931)
2011 – Edward Hardwicke, English actor (b. 1932)
2012 – James Abdnor, American politician (b. 1923)
2012 – Maria Bie?u, Moldovan opera singer (b. 1935)
2012 – Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1936)
2012 – Doug Dillard, American musician and actor (b. 1937) (The Dillards)
2012 – Kevin Hickey, American baseball player (b. 1956)