today.nukz.net: Almanac June 15

Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson. He is known for the hit singles "Everybody's Talkin'" (1969), "Without You" (1971), and "Coconut" (1972). Nilsson's career is also notable for the fact that he was one of the few major pop-rock recording artists of his era to achieve significant commercial success without ever performing major public concerts or undertaking regular tours.

He was awarded Grammys for two of his recordings; best male contemporary vocal in 1969 for "Everybody's Talkin'", the theme song to the Academy Award-winning movie Midnight Cowboy, and best male pop vocal in 1972 for "Without You."

Events

763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
923 – Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
1184 – King Magnus V of Norway is killed at the Battle of Fimreite.
1215 – King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta.
1219 – Northern Crusades: Danish victory at the Battle of Lyndanisse (modern-day Tallinn) establishes the Danish Duchy of Estonia. According to legend, this battle also marks the first use of the Dannebrog, the world's first national flag still in use, as the national flag of Denmark.
1246 – With the death of Duke Frederick II, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
1389 – Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
1520 – Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther in papal bull Exsurge Domine.
1580 – Philip II of Spain declares William the Silent to be an outlaw.
1667 – The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (traditional date, the exact date is unknown).
1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
1776 – Delaware Separation Day – Delaware votes to suspend government under the British Crown and separate officially from Pennsylvania.
1785 – Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel.
1804 – New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
1808 – Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
1836 – Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
1844 – Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
1846 – The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
1859 – Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between United States and British/Canadian settlers.
1864 – American Civil War: The Second Battle of Petersburg begins.
1864 – Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.81 km²) around Arlington Mansion (formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee) are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
1867 – Atlantic Cable Quartz Lode gold mine located in Montana.
1877 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
1888 – Crown Prince Wilhelm becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II; he will be the last Emperor of the German Empire.
1896 – The deadliest tsunami in Japan's history kills more than 22,000 people.
1904 – A fire aboard the steamboat SS General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1,000.
1905 – Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Gustaf, Crown Prince of Sweden.
1909 – Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
1913 – The Battle of Bud Bagsak in the Philippines ends.
1916 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America, making them the only American youth organization with a federal charter.
1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight when they reach Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
1920 – Duluth lynchings in Minnesota.
1920 – A new border treaty between Germany and Denmark gives northern Schleswig to Denmark.
1934 – The U.S. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
1937 – A German expedition led by Karl Wien loses sixteen members in an avalanche on Nanga Parbat. It is the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000m peak.
1940 – World War II: Operation Ariel begins – Allied troops start to evacuate France, following Germany's takeover of Paris and most of the nation.
1944 – World War II: Battle of Saipan: The United States invade Japanese-occupied Saipan.
1944 – In the Saskatchewan general election, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government in North America.
1945 – The General Dutch Youth League (ANJV) is founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1954 – UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) is formed in Basel, Switzerland.
1978 – King Hussein of Jordan marries American Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.
1985 – Rembrandt's painting Danaë is attacked by a man (later judged insane) who throws sulfuric acid on the canvas and cuts it twice with a knife.
1991 – In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century. In the end, over 800 people die.
1992 – The United States Supreme Court rules in United States v. Álvarez-Machaín that it is permissible for the United States to forcibly extradite suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries.
1994 – Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
1996 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes a large bomb in the middle of Manchester, England.
2002 – Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Births

1330 – Edward of Woodstock ("The Black Prince"), son of King Edward III of England and father of King Richard II of England (d. 1376)
1519 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, illegitimate son of King Henry VIII of England (d. 1536)
1594 – Nicolas Poussin, French painter (d. 1665)
1623 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
1624 – Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist (d. 1704)
1640 – Bernard Lamy, French mathematician (d. 1715)
1749 – Georg Joseph Vogler, German composer, organist, teacher and theorist (d. 1814)
1755 – Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (d. 1809)
1763 – Kobayashi Issa, Japanese haiku poet (d. 1827)
1765 – Johann Gottlieb Friedrich von Bohnenberger, German mathematician (d. 1831)
1765 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician (d. 1831)
1767 – Rachel Donelson Jackson, First Lady of the United States (d. 1828)
1777 – David Daniel Davis, British physician (d. 1841)
1789 – Josiah Henson, American minister and abolitionist (d. 1883)
1801 – Benjamin Wright Raymond, American politician (d. 1883)
1805 – William Butler Ogden, American politician (d. 1877)
1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, French-Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
1843 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (d. 1907)
1848 – Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala, Indian-born Syrian religious figure (d. 1902)
1875 – Herman Smith-Johannsen, Norwegian-born Canadian cross-country skier and supercentenarian (d. 1987)
1882 – Ion Antonescu, Romanian politician (d. 1946)
1884 – Harry Langdon, American actor (d. 1944)
1888 – Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet (d. 1921)
1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian mathematician (d. 1947)
1894 – Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and arranger (d. 1981)
1900 – Gotthard Günther, German philosopher (d. 1984)
1900 – Otto Luening, German-born American composer (d. 1996)
1902 – Erik Erikson, German-born psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
1906 – Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
1908 – Sam Giancana, American mafioso (d. 1975)
1910 – David Rose, American songwriter, composer and orchestra leader (d. 1990)
1911 – W.V. Awdry, British children's writer (d. 1997)
1914 – Yuri Andropov, Soviet politician (d. 1984)
1914 – Saul Steinberg, Romanian-born American cartoonist (d. 1999)
1914 – Hilda Terry, American cartoonist (d. 2006)
1915 – Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist, Nobel laureate (d. 2008)
1916 – Olga Erteszek, American lingerie company owner (d. 1989)
1916 – Horacio Salgán, Argentine pianist, composer, orchestra leader, and arranger
1916 – Herbert A. Simon, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2001)
1917 – John Bennett Fenn, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2010)
1917 – Lash LaRue, American actor (d. 1996)
1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek singer and composer (d. 2005)
1920 – Alberto Sordi, Italian actor and director (d. 2003)
1920 – Alla Kazanskaya, Russian stage and film actress (d. 2008)
1921 – Erroll Garner, American musician (d. 1977)
1922 – John Veale, English composer (d. 2006)
1924 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli politician (d. 2005)
1926 – Mac McGarry, American quiz show host
1926 – Shigeru Kayano, Japanese Ainu activist (d. 2006)
1927 – Ibn-e-Insha, Pakistani humourist and Urdu poet (d. 1978)
1927 – Hugo Pratt, Italian comic book creator (d. 1995)
1930 – Marcel Pronovost, Canadian professional ice hockey player
1932 – Mario Cuomo, American politician
1933 – Sergio Endrigo, Italian singer (d. 2005)
1933 – Mark Jones, English footballer (d. 1958)
1934 – Mikel Laboa, Spanish Basque singer and songwriter (d. 2008)
1936 – Claude Brasseur, French actor
1936 – William Joseph Levada, American Catholic prelate
1937 – Waylon Jennings, American singer (d. 2002)
1938 – Billy Williams, American baseball player
1939 – Ward Connerly, American political figure
1939 – Brian Jacques, English novelist (d. 2011)
1941 – Harry Nilsson, American singer and composer (d. 1994)
1942 – John E. McLaughlin, American former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
1943 – Xaviera Hollander, Dutch author
1943 – Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish politician
1943 – Johnny Hallyday, French singer and actor
1943 – Muff Winwood, British songwriter and bassist (Spencer Davis Group)
1943 – Lee Shallat-Chemel, American television director
1944 – Robert Keppel, American criminologist
1945 – Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Filipino senator
1945 – Nicola Pagett, British actress
1945 – Lawrence Wilkerson, American military officer
1946 – Noddy Holder, British singer (Slade)
1946 – Jack Horner, American paleontologist
1947 – John Hoagland, American photographer
1947 – Lee Purcell, American actress
1948 – Mike Holmgren, American football coach
1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball player and manager
1949 – Simon Callow, British actor
1949 – Russell Hitchcock, Australian singer (Air Supply)
1949 – Jim Varney, American actor (d. 2000)
1950 – Lakshmi Mittal, Indian industrialist
1951 – Steve Walsh, American singer (Kansas)
1951 – Vance A. Larson, American artist (d. 2000)
1953 – Rita Lee, American model
1954 – James Belushi, American actor
1954 – Paul Rusesabagina, Rwandan hotel manager and humanitarian
1954 – Beverley Whitfield, Australian swimmer (d. 1996)
1955 – Julie Hagerty, American actress
1955 – David Kennedy, American son of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy (d. 1984)
1956 – Ava Cadell, American actress
1956 – Robin Curtis, American actress
1956 – Polly Draper, American actress
1956 – Lance Parrish, American baseball player
1956 – Yevgeny Kiselyov, Russian journalist
1957 – Seppo Pääkkönen, Finnish actor
1958 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player
1958 – Riccardo Paletti, Italian racing driver (d. 1982)
1959 – Eileen Davidson, American actress
1959 – Alan Brazil, British footballer
1959 – Vicki Genfan, American fingerstyle guitarist, composer and singer
1960 – Michèle Laroque, French actress
1960 – Marieke van Doorn, Dutch field hockey player
1961 – Kai Eckhardt, German bassist and composer (Garaj Mahal, Vital Information)
1961 – Dave McAuley, Northern Irish boxer
1961 – Yoshimi Iwasaki, Japanese singer and actress
1961 – Scott Norton, American professional wrestler
1962 – Thomas Mikal Ford, American actor
1962 – Andrea Rost, Hungarian soprano
1963 – Mario Gosselin, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Helen Hunt, American actress
1963 – Blanca Portillo, Spanish actress
1963 – Nigel Walker, Welsh athlete and rugby union player
1964 – Courteney Cox, American actress
1964 – Gavin Greenaway, British composer
1964 – Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer
1964 – John Varvatos, American fashion designer
1965 – Annelies Bredael, Belgian rower
1965 – Mark Farrington, English footballer
1965 – Adam Smith, American politician
1966 – Tory Burch, American fashion designer
1966 – Idalis DeLeon, American actress and singer
1967 – Yuji Ueda, Japanese voice actor
1968 – Oh Dal-su, South Korean actor
1968 – Károly Güttler, Hungarian swimmer
1969 – Ice Cube, American rapper and actor
1969 – Nasos Galakteros, Greek basketball player
1969 – Oliver Kahn, German footballer
1969 – Cédric Pioline, French tennis player
1969 – Maurice Odumbe, Kenyan cricketer
1969 – Ken Jeong, American Actor
1970 – Leah Remini, American actress
1970 – Gaëlle Méchaly, French soprano
1970 – Christian Bauman, American novelist and essayist
1970 – Zan Tabak, Croatian basketball player
1971 – Edwin Brienen, Dutch director
1971 – Jake Busey, American actor
1971 – Christos Myriounis, Greek basketball player
1971 – Bif Naked, Canadian singer, poetess and actress
1972 – Justin Leonard, American golfer
1972 – Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
1972 – Marcus Hahnemann, American soccer player
1972 – Hank Von Helvete, Norwegian vocalist (Turbonegro)
1972 – Chloe Dao, American fashion designer
1973 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor
1973 – Tore André Flo, Norwegian footballer
1973 – Pia Miranda, Australian actress
1973 – Greg Vaughan, American actor
1975 – Elizabeth Reaser, American actress
1975 – Rachel Wacholder, American beach volleyballer
1976 – Gary Lightbody, Northern Irish singer and songwriter (Snow Patrol)
1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player
1977 – Nina Liu, Australian actress
1978 – Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
1978 – Zach Day, American baseball player
1979 – Danielle Lineker, Welsh model
1979 – Yulia Nestsiarenka, Belarusian athlete
1979 – Julia Schultz, American model
1979 – Charles Zwolsman Jr., Dutch racing driver
1980 – Mary Carey, American pornographic actress
1980 – Christopher Castile, American actor
1980 – Almudena Cid Tostado, Spanish gymnast
1980 – Cara Zavaleta, American model
1981 – Billy Martin, American musician, songwriter, author, and illustrator (Good Charlotte)
1981 – John Paintsil, Ghanaian footballer
1981 – Jeremy Reed, American baseball player
1981 – Jordi Vilasuso, American actor
1981 – Daniel Vosovic, American fashion designer
1982 – Abdur Razzak, Bangladeshi cricketer
1982 – Haley Scarnato, American singer
1982 – Katie Chapman, English footballer
1982 – Mike Delany, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Derek Anderson, American football player
1983 – Julia Fischer, German violinist
1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian musician
1983 – Josh McGuire, Canadian fencer
1984 – Luke Hodge, Australian rules footballer
1984 – Tim Lincecum, American baseball player
1984 – Mauro Rizzo, Italian footballer
1985 – Nadine Coyle, Northern Irish singer (Girls Aloud)
1987 – Ani Mijacika, Croatian tennis player
1988 – Miku Ishida, Japanese teen idol
1990 – Denzel Whitaker, American actor
1990 – Miwa, Japanese singer-songwriter
1993 – Kanna Arihara, Japanese singer (Cute)

Deaths

923 – King Robert I of France (b. 866)
991 – Empress Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 960)
1073 – Emperor Go-Sanjo of Japan (b. 1034)
1246 – Duke Frederick II of Austria (b. 1219)
1341 – Andronikos III Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1297)
1381 – John Cavendish, Lord Chief Justice of England (b. c. 1346)
1381 – Wat Tyler, English rebel (b. 1341)
1383 – John VI Cantacuzenus, Byzantine Emperor (b. c. 1292)
1389 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1326)
1389 – Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic, Serbian Orthodox saint (b. 1329)
1467 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
1521 – Tamás Bakócz, Hungarian Catholic cardinal and statesman (b. 1442)
1560 – William Sommers, Best known court jester of Henry VIII of England (b.1525)
1614 – Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English politician (b. 1540)
1679 – Guillaume Courtois, French painter (b. 1628)
1724 – Henry Sacheverell, English churchman and politician (b. 1674)
1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
1772 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French composer (b. 1694)
1844 – Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet (b. 1777)
1849 – James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
1858 – Ary Scheffer, Dutch-French painter (b. 1795)
1888 – Emperor Friedrich III of Germany (b. 1831)
1889 – Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (b. 1850)
1890 – Unryu Kyukichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 10th Yokozuna (b. 1822)
1917 – Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist (b. 1867)
1934 – Alfred Bruneau, French composer (b. 1857)
1938 – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German expressionist painter and printmaker (b. 1880)
1941 – Evelyn Underhill, British writer (b. 1875)
1941 – Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist (b. 1873)
1961 – Giulio Cabianca, Italian racing driver (b. 1923)
1962 – Alfred Cortot, French-Swiss pianist (b. 1877)
1965 – E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (b. 1902)
1965 – Steve Cochran, American actor (b. 1917)
1968 – Sam Crawford, American baseball player (b. 1880)
1968 – Wes Montgomery, American jazz guitarist (b. 1925)
1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
1976 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1896)
1983 – Srirangam Srinivasarao, Telugu poet and lyricist (b. 1910)
1984 – Meredith Willson, American composer (b. 1902)
1985 – Andy Stanfield, American sprinter (b. 1927)
1985 – Robert Stethem, U.S. Navy Seabee diver murdered by terrorists on TWA Flight 847 (b. 1961)
1989 – Victor French, American actor (b. 1934)
1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian politician (b. 1912)
1991 – Arthur Lewis, British economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1915)
1991 – Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler, American politician and commissioner of baseball (b. 1898)
1993 – John Connally, American politician (b. 1917)
1993 – James Hunt, English racing driver and 1976 Formula One world champion (b. 1947)
1994 – Manos Hadjidakis, Greek composer (b. 1925)
1995 – John Vincent Atanasoff, American computer pioneer (b. 1903)
1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
1996 – Dick Murdoch, American professional wrestler (b. 1946)
2000 – Jules Roy, French writer (b. 1907)
2001 – Henri Alekan, French cinematographer (b. 1909)
2001 – Maria Foka, Greek actress (b. 1917)
2002 – Choi Hong Hi, South Korean founder of Taekwondo (b. 1918)
2003 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian actor (b. 1911)
2005 – Suzanne Flon, French actress (b. 1918)
2006 – Raymond Devos, French humourist (b. 1922)
2006 – Herb Pearson, New Zealand cricketer (b. 1910)
2007 – Claudia Cohen, American gossip columnist and socialite (b. 1950)
2007 – Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler and valet (b. 1958)
2008 – Stan Winston, American special effects and makeup artist, and film director (b. 1946)
2011 – Bill Haast, American Herpetologist (b. 1910)