today.nukz.net: Almanac May 7

David Hume (7 May [O.S. 26 April] 1711 – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment. Hume is often grouped with John Locke, George Berkeley, and a handful of others as a British Empiricist.

Beginning with his A Treatise of Human Nature (1739), Hume strove to create a total naturalistic "science of man" that examined the psychological basis of human nature. In stark opposition to the rationalists who preceded him, most notably Descartes, he concluded that desire rather than reason governed human behaviour, saying: "Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions."[citation needed] A prominent figure in the skeptical philosophical tradition and a strong empiricist, he argued against the existence of innate ideas, concluding instead that humans have knowledge only of things they directly experience. Thus he divides perceptions between strong and lively "impressions" or direct sensations and fainter "ideas," which are copied from impressions. He developed the position that mental behaviour is governed by "custom"; our use of induction, for example, is justified only by our idea of the "constant conjunction" of causes and effects. Without direct impressions of a metaphysical "self," he concluded that humans have no actual conception of the self, only of a bundle of sensations associated with the self.

Events

351 – The Jewish revolt against Gallus breaks out. After his arrival at Antioch, the Jews begin a rebellion in Palestine.
558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders that the dome be rebuilt.
1274 – In France, the Second Council of Lyons opens to regulate the election of the Pope.
1429 – Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning, wounded, to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years' War.
1664 – Louis XIV of France inaugurates the Palace of Versailles.
1697 – Stockholm's royal castle (dating back to medieval times) is destroyed by fire. It is replaced by the current Royal Palace in the eighteenth century.
1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
1763 – Indian Wars: Pontiac's Rebellion begins – Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit.
1794 – French Revolution: Robespierre introduces the Cult of the Supreme Being in the National Convention as the new state religion of the French First Republic.
1824 – World premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Vienna, Austria. The performance is conducted by Michael Umlauf under the composer's supervision.
1832 – The independence of Greece is recognized by the Treaty of London. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.
1840 – The Great Natchez Tornado strikes Natchez, Mississippi killing 317 people. It is the second deadliest tornado in United States history.
1846 – The Cambridge Chronicle, America's oldest surviving weekly newspaper, is published for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1847 – The American Medical Association is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1864 – American Civil War: The Army of the Potomac, under General Ulysses S. Grant, breaks off from the Battle of the Wilderness and moves southwards.
1895 – In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector — a primitive radio receiver. In some parts of the former Soviet Union the anniversary of this day is celebrated as Radio Day.
1915 – World War I: German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, killing 1,198 people including 128 Americans. Public reaction to the sinking turns many formerly pro-Germans in the United States against the German Empire.
1920 – Kiev Offensive: Polish troops led by Józef Pilsudski and Edward Rydz-Smigly and assisted by a symbolic Ukrainian force capture Kiev only to be driven out by the Red Army counter-offensive a month later.
1920 – Treaty of Moscow: Soviet Russia recognizes the independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia only to invade the country six months later.
1920 – The Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, opens the first exhibition by the Group of Seven.
1937 – Spanish Civil War: The German Condor Legion, equipped with Heinkel He 51 biplanes, arrives in Spain to assist Francisco Franco's forces.
1940 – The Norway Debate in the British House of Commons begins, and leads to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with Winston Churchill three days later.
1942 – During the Battle of the Coral Sea, United States Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attack and sink the Japanese Imperial Navy light aircraft carrier Shoho. The battle marks the first time in the naval history that two enemy fleets fight without visual contact between warring ships.
1945 – World War II: General Alfred Jodl signs unconditional surrender terms at Reims, France, ending Germany's participation in the war. The document takes effect the next day.
1946 – Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees.
1948 – The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress.
1952 – The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.
1954 – Indochina War: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu ends in a French defeat and a Vietnamese victory (the battle began on March 13).
1960 – Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960 – Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
1964 – Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F-27 airliner, crashes near San Ramon, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a cockpit recorder tape indicates that the pilot and co-pilot had been shot by a suicidal passenger.
1974 – West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns.
1986 – Canadian Patrick Morrow became the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits.
1992 – Michigan ratifies a 203-year-old proposed amendment to the United States Constitution making the 27th Amendment law. This amendment bars the U.S. Congress from giving itself a mid-term pay raise.
1992 – The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission (STS-49).
1992 – Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, are brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery. It is the first "fast-food murder" in Canada.
1994 – Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream is recovered undamaged after having been stolen from the National Gallery of Norway in February.
1998 – Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for $40 billion USD and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history.
1999 – Pope John Paul II travels to Romania becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.
1999 – Kosovo War: In Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, three Chinese citizens are killed and 20 wounded when a NATO aircraft bombs the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
1999 – In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
2000 – Vladimir Putin is inaugurated president of Russia
2002 – A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
2004 – American businessman Nick Berg is beheaded by Islamic militants. The act is recorded on videotape and released on the Internet.
2007 – Israeli archaeologists discover the tomb of Herod the Great south of Jerusalem.
2009 – Over 100 New Zealand Police officers begin a 40-hour siege of a lone gunman in Napier, New Zealand.

Births

1328 – Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1365)
1530 – Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, French Huguenot general (d. 1569)
1605 – Patriarch Nikon, 7th patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church (d. 1681)
1643 – Stephanus Van Cortlandt, American politician (d. 1700)
1700 – Gerard van Swieten, Dutch-born physician (d. 1772)
1704 – Carl Heinrich Graun, German composer and tenor singer (d. 1759)
1711 – David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1776)
1724 – Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser, Austrian general (d. 1797)
1740 – Nikolai Arkharov, Russian general (d. 1814)
1745 – Carl Stamitz, German composer (d. 1801)
1748 – Olympe de Gouges, French playwright and feminist revolutionary (d. 1793)
1756 – Thomas Linley the younger, English composer (d. 1778)
1763 – Józef Antoni Poniatowski, Polish prince (d. 1813)
1767 – Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia, Duchess of York and Albany (d. 1820)
1774 – William Bainbridge, American Commodore (d. 1833)
1787 – Jacques Viger, Canadian politician, first mayor of Montreal (d. 1858)
1812 – Robert Browning, English poet (d. 1889)
1826 – Varina Davis, First Lady of the Confederate States of America (d. 1906)
1833 – Johannes Brahms, German composer (d. 1897)
1836 – Joseph Gurney Cannon, American politician (d. 1926)
1840 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer (d. 1893)
1847 – Archibald Primrose, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1929)
1857 – William A. MacCorkle, American politician (d. 1930)
1860 – Tom Norman, English freak showman (d. 1930)
1861 – Rabindranath Tagore, Indian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1941)
1867 – Wladyslaw Reymont, Polish writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1925)
1882 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (d. 1960)
1885 – George 'Gabby' Hayes, American actor (d. 1969)
1891 – Harry McShane, Scottish socialist (d. 1988)
1892 – Archibald MacLeish, American Librarian of Congress (d. 1982)
1892 – Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia (d. 1980)
1893 – Frank J. Selke, Canadian ice hockey manager (d. 1985)
1901 – Gary Cooper, American actor (d. 1961)
1909 – Edwin H. Land, American inventor (d. 1991)
1911 – Ishiro Honda, Japanese film director (d. 1993)
1912 – Pannalal Patel, Gujarati author (d. 1989)
1914 – Sir Arthur Snelling, British Ambassador (d. 1996)
1916 – Huw Wheldon, British broadcaster (d. 1986)
1917 – David Tomlinson, English film actor (d. 2000)
1919 – La Esterella, Flemish singer (d. 2011)
1919 – Eva Perón, Argentine first lady (d. 1952)
1921 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer (d. 1985)
1922 – Lew Anderson, American actor and bandleader (d. 2006)
1922 – Darren McGavin, American actor (d. 2006)
1922 – Joe O'Donnell, American documentary photographer and photojournalist (d. 2007)
1923 – Anne Baxter, American actress (d. 1985)
1924 – Albert Band, American film director (d. 2002)
1926 – Val Bisoglio, Italian-American actor
1927 – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, German screenwriter
1927 – Jim Lowe, American singer
1928 – John Ingle, American actor
1929 – Babe Parilli, American football player
1929 – Dick Williams, American baseball player, manager and coach (d. 2011)
1930 – Totie Fields, American comedienne (d. 1978)
1931 – Teresa Brewer, American pop and jazz singer (d. 2007)
1931 – Gene Wolfe, American science fiction author
1932 – Jordi Bonet, Catalan-born Canadian painter, muralist and sculptor (d. 1979)
1932 – Pete Domenici, American politician
1933 – Johnny Unitas, American football player (d. 2002)
1933 – Nexhmije Pagarusha, Albanian singer
1935 – Isobel Warren, Canadian author
1936 – Bobby Joe Green, American football player (d. 1993)
1937 – Claude Raymond, Canadian baseball player
1939 – Sidney Altman, Canadian molecular biologist, Nobel laureate
1939 – Ruud Lubbers, Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1939 – Johnny Maestro, American pop singer (d. 2010)
1939 – Jimmy Ruffin, American singer
1939 – Ruggero Deodato, Italian film director, actor and screen writer
1940 – Angela Carter, English novelist and journalist (d. 1992)
1940 – Dave Chambers, Canadian ice hockey coach
1940 – Jim Connors, American radio personality (d. 1987)
1940 – Vasilis N. Triantafillidis, Greek comedian and actor
1941 – Catherine P. Saxton, British-born American public relations executive
1943 – Terry Allen, American country music singer
1943 – Harvey Andrews, English singer and songwriter
1943 – Peter Carey, Australian author
1944 – Eva Norvind, Mexican actress (d. 2006)
1944 – Richard O'Sullivan, British actor
1945 – Christy Moore, Irish folk artist
1945 – Robin Strasser, American TV soap opera actress
1946 – Jerry Nolan, American musician (The New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers) (d. 1992)
1946 – Thelma Houston, American singer
1946 – Bill Kreutzmann, American drummer (Grateful Dead)
1946 – Brian Turner, English chef
1946 – Michael Rosen, English children's poet
1946 – Marv Hubbard, American football player
1948 – Susan Atkins, American murderer (d. 2009)
1949 – Kathy Ahern, American golfer (d. 1996)
1949 – Marilyn Cole, English model
1950 – Randall 'Tex' Cobb, American boxer and actor
1950 – Tim Russert, American television host (d. 2008)
1951 – Robert Hegyes, American actor (d. 2012)
1951 – Bernie Marsden, English musician
1953 – Pat McInally, American football player
1953 – Ian McKay, British soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1982)
1954 – Philippe Geluck, Belgian cartoonist
1954 – Amy Heckerling, American director
1955 – Clément Gignac, Canadian politician
1955 – Ben Poquette, American basketball player
1955 – Peter Reckell, American actor
1955 – Kevin Reed, American theologian
1955 – Axel Zwingenberger, blues and boogie-woogie pianist and songwriter
1956 – Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
1956 – Anne Dudley, British composer
1956 – Jean Lapierre, Canadian politician and television host
1957 – Ray Fernandez, American wrestler (d. 2004)
1957 – Ned Bellamy, American actor
1958 – Mark G. Kuzyk, American physicist
1959 – Barbara Yung Mei-ling, Hong Kong actress (d. 1985)
1959 – Michael E. Knight, American actor
1960 – Adam Bernstein, American music video/television director
1960 – Almudena Grandes, Spanish novelist
1961 – Hans-Peter Bartels, German politician
1961 – Phil Campbell, British musician (Motörhead)
1962 – Tony Campbell, American basketball player
1962 – Dominik Moll, German-born French film director and screenwriter
1963 – Johnny Lee Middleton, American musician (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
1964 – Doug Benson, American comedian
1964 – Ronnie Harmon, American football player
1964 – Leslie O'Neal, American football player
1965 – Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1999)
1965 – Norman Whiteside, Northern Irish footballer
1965 – Reuben Davis, American football player
1967 – Martin Bryant, Australian mass murderer
1967 – Joe Rice, American politician
1968 – Traci Lords, American actress
1968 – Lisa Raitt, Canadian politician
1969 – Eagle-Eye Cherry, Swedish musician
1969 – Jun Falkenstein, American film director
1969 – Katerina Maleeva, Bulgarian tennis player
1969 – Rick Porras, American film producer
1970 – Kim Su-ro, South Korean actor
1971 – Horgh, Norwegian drummer (Immortal, Hypocrisy)
1971 – Dave Karpa, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Peter Dubovský, Slovak footballer (d. 2000)
1972 – Frank Trigg, American mixed martial artist
1973 – Kristian Lundin, Swedish songwriter
1973 – Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist
1974 – Breckin Meyer, American actor
1974 – Ian Pearce, English footballer
1975 – Jason Tunks, Canadian discus thrower
1975 – Zee, American hip hop artist
1975 – Martina Topley-Bird, English vocalist/songwriter
1976 – Calvin Booth, American basketball player
1976 – Andrea Lo Cicero, Italian rugby player
1977 – Lisa Kelly, Irish singer
1978 – Stian Arnesen, Norwegian musician
1978 – Brian Clevinger, American author
1978 – Shawn Marion, American basketball player
1978 – Stephanie Pohl, German beach volleyball player
1979 – Katie Douglas, American basketball player
1980 – Johan Kenkhuis, Dutch swimmer
1980 – Kate Lawler, English reality television personality
1981 – Tim Connolly, American ice hockey player
1982 – Ákos Buzsáky, Hungarian footballer
1983 – DJ Row, Greek American dance DJ
1984 – James Loney, American baseball player
1984 – Alex Smith, American football player
1984 – Drew Stanton, American football player
1984 – May7ven, Nigerian-born British singer-songwriter and dancer
1985 – Drew Neitzel, American basketball player
1985 – Dan Sweetman, Australian television host
1986 – Mark Furze, Australian actor
1986 – Matt Helders, English drummer (Arctic Monkeys)
1987 – Michael Maidens, English footballer (d. 2007)
1987 – Jérémy Ménez, French footballer
1987 – Serge Gakpé, Togolese footballer
1988 – Natalie Mejia, American dancer and singer (Girlicious)
1989 – Master Shortie, British hip-hop and R&B singer-songwriter and rapper
1990 – Yoon Bit-Garam, South Korean footballer
1992 – Alexander Ludwig, Canadian actor
1999 – Masaki Sato, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
2000 – Maxwell Perry Cotton, American actor

Deaths

973 – Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 912)
1092 – Remigius de Fécamp, first bishop of Lincoln (b. unknown)
1427 – Thomas la Warr, 5th Baron De La Warr, English churchman
1523 – Franz von Sickingen, German soldier (b. 1481)
1539 – Ottaviano Petrucci, Italian printer (b. 1466)
1615 – Sanada Yukimura, Japanese samurai (b. 1567)
1617 – David Fabricius, German astronomer (b. 1564)
1667 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German composer (b. 1616)
1682 – Tsar Feodor III of Russia (b. 1661)
1718 – Mary of Modena, wife of James II of England (b. 1658)
1793 – Pietro Nardini, Italian composer (b. 1722)
1800 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (b. 1728)
1805 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1737)
1825 – Antonio Salieri, Italian composer (b. 1750)
1840 – Caspar David Friedrich, German painter (b. 1774)
1868 – Henry Peter Brougham, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1778)
1876 – William Buell Sprague, American clergyman and author (b. 1795)
1887 – C. F. W. Walther, American Lutheran theologian (b. 1811)
1896 – H. H. Holmes (Herman Webster Mudgett), American serial killer (b. 1860)
1922 – Max Wagenknecht, German composer (b. 1857)
1925 – William Hesketh Lever, First Viscount Leverhulme (b. 1851)
1940 – George Lansbury, British Labour Party leader (b. 1859)
1941 – Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (b. 1854)
1942 – Felix Weingartner, Yugoslavian conductor (b. 1863)
1946 – Herbert Macaulay, Nigerian politician (b. 1864)
1951 – Warner Baxter, American actor (b. 1889)
1986 – Jeffrey Mylett, American actor (b. 1949)
1987 – Colin Blakely, British actor (b. 1930)
1989 – Guy Williams, American actor (b. 1924)
1993 – Mary Philbin, American actress (b. 1903)
1995 – Ray McKinley, American jazz drummer, singer and bandleader (b. 1910)
1998 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South African physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1924)
1998 – Eddie Rabbitt, American musician (b. 1941)
2000 – Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., American actor (b. 1909)
2001 – Jacques de Bourbon Busset, French novelist, essayist and politician (b. 1912)
2002 – Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)
2002 – Kevyn Aucoin, American makeup artist and photographer (b. 1962)
2004 – Waldemar Milewicz, Polish reporter (b. 1956)
2005 – Tristan Egolf, American writer (b. 1971)
2005 – Peter W. Rodino, American politician (b. 1909)
2005 – Otilino Tenorio, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1980)
2006 – Richard Carleton, Australian news reporter (b. 1943)
2006 – Joan C. Edwards, American philanthropist (b. 1918)
2006 – Machiko Soga, Japanese actress (b. 1943)
2007 – Diego Corrales, American boxer (b. 1977)
2007 – Octavian Paler, Romanian writer and journalist (b. 1926)
2007 – Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader (b. 1935)
2009 – David Mellor, English cutlery designer (b. 1930)
2009 – Danny Ozark, American baseball coach and manager (b. 1923)
2011 – Seve Ballesteros, Spanish golfer (b. 1957)
2011 – Willard Boyle, Canadian physicist (b. 1924)
2011 – Allyson Hennessy, Trindadian television presenter (b. 1948)
2011 – Big George, British broadcaster, composer, bandleader and musician (b. 1957)