today.nukz.net: Almanac May 17

Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 - May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). During the next 10 years, Hopper appeared frequently on television in guest roles, and by the end of the 1960s had played supporting roles in several films.

Events

1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
1536 – George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and four other men are executed for treason.
1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.
1642 – Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve (1612–1676) founds the Ville Marie de Montréal.
1673 – Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Congress bans trade with Quebec.
1792 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
1805 – Muhammad Ali becomes Wali of Egypt.
1809 – Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire.
1814 – Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian.
1814 – The Constitution of Norway is signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.
1849 – A large fire nearly burns St. Louis, Missouri to the ground.
1863 – Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language.
1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established in Paris.
1869 – Imperial Japanese forces defeat the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Battle of Hakodate to end the Boshin War.
1875 – Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby.
1900 – Second Boer War: British troops relieve Mafeking.
1902 – Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer.
1914 – The Protocol of Corfu is signed recognising full autonomy to Northern Epirus under nominal Albanian sovereignty.
1915 – The last British Liberal Party government (led by Herbert Henry Asquith) falls.
1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling — the national-socialist party of Norway.
1939 – The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the United States' first televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City.
1940 – World War II: Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium.
1940 – World War II: the old city centre of the Dutch town of Middelburg is bombed by the German Luftwaffe, to force the surrender of the Dutch armies in Zeeland.
1943 – The United States Army contracts with the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School to develop the ENIAC.
1943 – World War II: the Dambuster Raids by No. 617 Squadron RAF on German dams.
1954 – The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
1967 – Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.
1969 – Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
1970 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
1973 – Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
1974 – Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
1974 – Thirty-three civilians are killed and over 300 injured when the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) explodes car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. It is the highest number of casualties in any one day during The Troubles. An Irish parliament committee, and others, allege that British security forces were involved.
1980 – General Chun Doo-hwan of South Korea seizes control of the government and declares martial law in order to suppress student demonstrations.
1980 – On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru.
1983 – The U.S. Department of Energy declassifies documents showing world's largest mercury pollution event in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (ultimately found to be 4.2 million pounds), in response to the Appalachian Observer's Freedom of Information Act request.
1983 – Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
1984 – Prince Charles calls a proposed addition to the National Gallery, London, a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend," sparking controversies on the proper role of the Royal Family and the course of modern architecture.
1987 – An Iraqi Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two missiles into the U.S. Navy warship USS Stark, killing 37 and injuring 21 of her crew.
1990 – The General Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) eliminates homosexuality from the list of psychiatric diseases.
1992 – Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown that results in 52 officially confirmed deaths, many disappearances, hundreds of injuries, and over 3,500 arrests.
1994 – Malawi holds its first multi-party elections.
1997 – Troops of Laurent Kabila march into Kinshasa. Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2004 – Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage.
2006 – The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef.
2007 – Trains from North and South Korea cross the 38th Parallel in a test-run agreed by both governments. This is the first time that trains have crossed the Demilitarized Zone since 1953.

Births

1155 – Jien, Japanese poet and historian (d. 1225)
1443 – Edmund, Earl of Rutland, brother of Kings Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1460)
1551 – Martin Delrio, Flemish theologian and occultist (d. 1601)
1571 – William White, English composer (d. 1634)
1628 – Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria, Regent of Tyrol (d. 1662)
1682 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (d. 1722)
1706 – Andreas Felix von Oefele, German historian and librarian (d. 1780)
1718 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English diplomat and politician (d. 1778)
1732 – Thomas Erskine, 6th Earl of Kellie, British musician and composer (d. 1781)
1732 – Francesco Pasquale Ricci, Italian composer and violinist (d. 1817)
1743 – Seth Warner, American revolutionary leader (d. 1784)
1749 – Edward Jenner, English medical researcher (d. 1823)
1758 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (d. 1839)
1768 – Caroline of Brunswick, German-born Queen consort of George IV of the United Kingdom (d. 1821)
1768 – Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, English general (d. 1854)
1794 – Anna Brownell Jameson, British writer (d. 1860)
1821 – Sebastian Kneipp, German naturopathist (d. 1897)
1836 – Wilhelm Steinitz, Austrian chess player (d. 1900)
1836 – Virginie Loveling, Belgian writer and poet (d. 1923)
1844 – Julius Wellhausen, German biblical scholar (d. 1918)
1845 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (d. 1902)
1863 – Léon Gérin, French Canadian civil servant and sociologist (d. 1951)
1866 – Erik Satie, French composer (d. 1925)
1868 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American automobile manufacturer (d. 1920)
1873 – Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (d. 1935)
1873 – Dorothy Richardson, English writer (d. 1957)
1886 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (d. 1941)
1888 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (d. 1965)
1891 – Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife (d. 1959)
1891 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general and resistance leader during World War II (d. 1957)
1895 – Saul Adler FRS, Russian-born British-Israeli expert on parasitology (d. 1966)
1895 – Mary Josephine Ray, Canadian supercentenarian (d. 2010)
1897 – Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
1898 – Alfred Joseph Casson, Canadian painter (d. 1992)
1901 – Werner Egk, German composer (d. 1983)
1903 – Cool Papa Bell, baseball player (d. 1991)
1904 – Jean Gabin, French actor (d. 1976)
1906 – Zinka Milanov, Croatian soprano (d. 1989)
1909 – Julius Sumner Miller, American physicist (d. 1987)
1911 – Lisa Fonssagrives, Swedish-born supermodel (d. 1992)
1911 – Maureen O'Sullivan, Irish actress (d. 1998)
1912 – Archibald Cox, American lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
1912 – Ace Parker, American baseball and football player
1913 – Hans Ruesch, Swiss racing driver (d. 2007)
1914 – Robert N. Thompson, Canadian politician (d. 1997)
1918 – Birgit Nilsson, Swedish soprano (d. 2005)
1918 – A. C. Lyles, American film producer
1919 – Antonio Aguilar, Mexican singer and actor (d. 2007)
1919 – Merle Miller, American biographer (d. 1986)
1921 – Dennis Brain, English French horn player (d. 1957)
1921 – Bob Merrill, American composer and lyricist (d. 1998)
1926 – Franz Sondheimer, German-born British chemist (d. 1981)
1931 – Marshall Applewhite, American cult leader of Heaven's Gate (d. 1997)
1934 – Friedrich-Wilhelm Kiel, German politician
1934 – Ronald Wayne, co-founder of Apple Computer
1935 – Dennis Potter, English writer (d. 1994)
1936 – Dennis Hopper, American actor and director (d. 2010)
1937 – Hazel R. O'Leary, 7th United States Secretary of Energy
1938 – Jason Bernard, American actor (d. 1996)
1938 – Pervis Jackson, American singer (The Spinners) (d. 2008)
1939 – Gary Paulsen, American author
1940 – Alan Kay, American computer scientist
1940 – Reynato Puno, Filipino Supreme Court Chief Justice
1941 – David Cope, American composer and author
1941 – Ben Nelson. 40th Governor of Nebraska & United States Senator from Nebraska
1941 – Grace Zabriskie, American actress
1942 – Taj Mahal, American musician
1943 – Johnny Warren, Australian footballer (d. 2004)
1944 – Jesse Winchester, singer and songwriter
1945 – Tony Roche, Australian tennis player
1946 – Udo Lindenberg, German musician
1946 – F. Paul Wilson, American novelist
1947 – Andrew Latimer, English musician (Camel)
1948 – Dick Gaughan, Scottish musician, singer and songwriter
1949 – Bill Bruford, English drummer (Yes, King Crimson)
1950 – Howard Ashman, American lyricist (d. 1991)
1950 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian politician (d. 2008)
1950 – Valeria Novodvorskaya, Russian politician, dissident, founder and chairwoman of the Democratic Union party
1951 – Simon Hughes, British politician
1952 – Howard Hampton, Canadian politician
1953 – Luca Prodan, Italian-Scottish singer and musician (Sumo, Hurlingham Reggae Band)
1953 – Kathleen Sullivan, American TV Journalist
1955 – Bill Paxton, American actor and film director
1955 – David Townsend, American musician (Surface) (d. 2005)
1956 – Sugar Ray Leonard, American boxer
1956 – Bob Saget, American actor
1956 – Dave Sim, Canadian cartoonist
1957 – Pascual Pérez, Dominican baseball player
1958 – Paul Di'Anno, English singer (Iron Maiden)
1959 – Marcelo Loffreda, Argentine rugby player and coach
1959 – Jim Nantz, American broadcaster
1960 – Lou DiBella, American boxing promoter
1961 – Enya, Irish singer and songwriter
1962 – Craig Ferguson, Scottish actor and comedian
1962 – Lise Lyng Falkenberg, Danish writer
1962 – Jane Moore, British journalist
1963 – Jon Koncak, American basketball player
1963 – Page McConnell, American musician and songwriter (Phish)
1964 – Stratos Apostolakis, Greek footballer
1964 – David Eigenberg, American actor
1964 – Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
1965 – Trent Reznor, American musician (Nine Inch Nails)
1965 – Paige Turco, American actress
1965 – Jeremy Vine, British journalist and presenter
1966 – Hill Harper, American actor
1966 – Mark Kratzmann, Australian tennis player
1966 – Danny Manning, American basketball player
1967 – Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives
1969 – Tabatha Coffey, Australian hairstylist and television personality
1969 – Alan Doyle, Canadian musician (Great Big Sea)
1969 – Thom Filicia, American television personality
1970 – Jordan Knight, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
1970 – Hubert Davis, American basketball player
1970 – Angelica Agurbash, Belarusian singer, actress and model
1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial arts fighter
1971 – Shaun Hart, Australian footballer
1971 – Princess Máxima of the Netherlands
1973 – Josh Homme, American musician and songwriter (Queens of the Stone Age)
1973 – Matthew McGrory, American actor (d. 2005)
1973 – Sasha Alexander, American television actress
1973 – Steve Barakatt, Canadian composer
1974 – Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
1974 – Wiki González, Venezuelan baseball player
1974 – Eddie Lewis, American footballer
1974 – Sendhil Ramamurthy, American actor
1975 – Cheick Kongo, French martial artist
1975 – Jonti Picking, British cartoonist
1975 – Kostas Sommer, Greek actor
1975 – Laura Voutilainen, Finnish singer
1975 – Alex Wright, German professional wrestler
1976 – José Guillén, Dominican baseball player
1976 – Leehom Wang, American/Taiwanese musician and composer
1978 – John Foster, American baseball player
1978 – Paddy Kenny, Irish football goalkeeper
1978 – Carlos Peña, Dominican baseball player
1979 – Wayne Thomas, English footballer
1980 – Davor Džalto, Serbian/Croatian art historian
1980 – Dallas Taylor, American singer (Underoath)
1981 – Beñat Albizuri, Spanish cyclist
1981 – Shiri Maimon, Israeli singer
1981 – Leon Osman, English footballer
1981 – Giannis Taralidis, Greek footballer
1981 – Lim Jeong Hee, Korean singer
1982 – Tony Parker, French/American basketball player
1982 – Matt Cassel, American football player
1982 – Reiko Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
1983 – Channing Frye, American basketball player
1983 – Nicky Hofs, Dutch footballer
1983 – Jeremy Sowers, American baseball player
1983 – DJ Yonny, American DJ, producer and remixer
1983 – Chris Henry, American football player (d. 2009)
1984 – Christine Robinson, Canadian water polo player
1984 – Christian Bolaños, Costa Rican footballer
1985 – Derek Hough, American dancer and singer
1985 – Christine Nesbitt, Canadian long track speed skater
1985 – Matt Ryan, American football player
1985 – Emil Sitoci, Dutch professional wrestler and television personality.
1985 – Greg Van Avermaet, Belgian cyclist
1986 – Tahj Mowry, American actor
1987 – Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norwegian cyclist
1988 – Nikki Reed, American actress
1989 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
1989 – Kris Bernal, Filipina actress
1990 – Leven Rambin, American actress
1991 – Adil Omar, Pakistani rapper
1991 – Daniel Curtis Lee, American actor
1994 – Julie Anne San Jose, Filipina actress and singer
1996 – Ryan Ochoa, American actor

Deaths

290 – Sima Yan (Jin Wudi), Chinese emperor of the Jin Dynasty (b. 236)
1189 – Minamoto no Yoshitsune, Japanese general (b. 1159)
1336 – Emperor Go-Fushimi of Japan (b. 1288)
1365 – Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1328)
1395 – Constantine Dragaš, Serbian ruler of a semi-independent realm (b. 1355)
1464 – Thomas de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros, English politician (executed) (b. 1427)
1510 – Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (b. 1445)
1521 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1478)
1536 – George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, English diplomat (executed) (b. c. 1504)
1536 – Francis Weston, English courtier and Gentleman of the Privy Chamber (executed) (b. 1511)
1536 – Henry Norris, English courtier and Groom of the Stool (executed) (b. c. 1482)
1536 – William Brereton, English courtier and Groom of the Privy Chamber (executed)
1536 – Mark Smeaton, English courtier and musician (executed) (b. c. 1512)
1551 – Shin Saimdang, korean writer and artist, poet (b. 1504)
1575 – Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1504)
1626 – Juan Pujol, Catalan composer (b. 1570)
1643 – Giovanni Picchi, Italian composer (b. 1571/1572)
1727 – Empress Catherine I of Russia (b. 1684)
1729 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher (b. 1675)
1765 – Alexis Claude de Clairaut, French mathematician (b. 1713)
1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (b. 1719)
1801 – William Heberden, English physician (b. 1710)
1807 – John Gunby, Maryland Soldier in the American Revolutionary War (b. 1745)
1809 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (b. 1722)
1822 – Armand-Emmanuel du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, French-Russian statesman (b. 1766)
1829 – John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1745)
1838 – Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French diplomat (b. 1754)
1838 – René Caillé, French explorer (b. 1799)
1839 – Archibald Alison, Scottish author (b. 1757)
1868 – Isami Kondo, Japanese Shinsengumi Commander (b. 1834)
1875 – John C. Breckinridge, 14th Vice President of the United States (b. 1821)
1879 – Asa Packer, American railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh Valley Railroad (b. 1805)
1886 – John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (b. 1804)
1888 – Giacomo Zanella, Italian poet (b. 1820)
1911 – Frederick August Otto Schwarz, American entrepreneur (b. 1836)
1916 – Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)
1917 – Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
1919 – Guido von List, German occult author (b. 1848)
1927 – Harold Geiger, U.S. Army aviation pioneer (b. 1884)
1935 – Paul Dukas, French composer (b. 1865)
1936 – Panagis Tsaldaris, twice Greek prime minister (b. 1868)
1938 – Jakob Ehrlich, Austrian politician and zionist (b. 1877)
1947 – George William Forbes, 22nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
1947 – Zhang Lingfu, a general of the National Revolutionary Army (b. 1903)
1951 – William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, British general (b. 1865)
1963 – John Wilce, American physician and former head football coach at the Ohio State University (b. 1888)
1964 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-born psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1895)
1966 – Randy Turpin, English boxer, known as the Leamington Licker, (b. 1928)
1974 – Ernest Nash, German-born archaeologist (b. 1898)
1985 – Abe Burrows, American songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)
1987 – Gunnar Myrdal, Swedish economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1898)
1992 – Lawrence Welk, American musician (b. 1903)
1995 – Hector "Toe" Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and NHL coach (b. 1912)
1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer, composer and instrumentalist (b. 1966)
1996 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (b. 1959)
1996 – Johnny "Guitar" Watson, American funk and blues guitarist and singer (b. 1935)
1999 – Bruce Fairbairn, Canadian record producer and musician (b. 1949)
2000 – Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1909)
2001 – Frank G. Slaughter, American novelist and physician (b. 1908)
2002 – Dave Berg, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
2002 – Sharon Sheeley, American songwriter (b. 1940)
2002 – Ladislao Kubala, Hungarian-Spanish footballer (b. 1927)
2002 – Asik Mahzuni Serif, Turkish folk musician, composer and poet (b. 1940)
2003 – Frank "Pop" Ivy, American and Canadian football coach (b. 1916)
2004 – Jørgen Nash, Danish artist (b. 1920)
2004 – Tony Randall, American actor (b. 1920)
2004 – Ezzedine Salim, leader of the Iraqi Governing Council (b. 1943)
2005 – Frank Gorshin, American actor (b. 1934)
2006 – Cy Feuer, American playwright (b. 1911)
2006 – Eric Forth, British Member of Parliament (b. 1944)
2006 – Captain Nichola Goddard, Canadian soldier (b. 1980)
2007 – Lloyd Alexander, American author (b. 1924)
2007 – T.K. Doraiswamy (also known as Nakulan), Indian poet and author (b. 1921)
2009 – Mario Benedetti, Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet (b. 1920)
2009 – Jung Seung-hye, South Korean film producer (b. 1965)
2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist, composer and teacher (b. 1924)
2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese/American painter (b. 1929)
2011 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player (b. 1936)
2012 – Donna Summer, American singer (b. 1948)