today.nukz.net: Almanac June 25

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist and journalist. His work is marked by clarity, intelligence and wit, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and belief in democratic socialism.

Considered perhaps the 20th century's best chronicler of English culture, Orwell wrote literary criticism, poetry, fiction and polemical journalism. He is best known for the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) and the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945). His book Homage to Catalonia (1938), an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, is widely acclaimed, as are his numerous essays on politics, literature, language and culture. In 2008, The Times ranked him second on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".

Events

253 – Pope Cornelius is executed (beheaded) at Centumcellae.
524 – The Franks defeat the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine.
1530 – At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany.
1678 – Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua.
1741 – Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary.
1786 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
1788 – Virginia becomes the 10th state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.
1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.
1910 – Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer.
1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.
1935 – Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Colombia are established.
1938 – Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic Countries, begins.
1944 – World War II: United States Navy and Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
1944 – The final page of the comic Krazy Kat was published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died.
1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
1948 – The Berlin airlift begins.
1949 – Long-Haired Hare, starring Bugs Bunny, is released in theaters.
1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
1960 – Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.
1967 – Broadcasting of the first live global satellite television program: Our World
1975 – The State of Emergency is declared in India.
1975 – Mozambique achieves independence.
1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.
1982 – Greece abolishes the head shaving of recruits in the military.
1991 – Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia.
1993 – Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen.
1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.
1997 – The Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat erupts resulting in the death of 19 people.
1998 – In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
2006 – Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, is kidnapped by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid from the Israeli territory.

Births

1242 – Beatrice of England, Duchess of Brittany (d. 1275)
1328 – William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English military leader (d. 1397)
1560 – Wilhelm Fabry, German surgeon (d. 1634)
1612 – John Albert Vasa, Polish bishop (d. 1634)
1709 – Francesco Araja, Italian composer
1715 – Joseph-François Foulon, French politician (d. 1789)
1726 – Thomas Pennant, British naturalist (d. 1798)
1755 – Princess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia (d. 1776)
1814 – Gabriel Auguste Daubrée, French geologist (d. 1896)
1852 – Antoni Gaudí, Spanish architect (d. 1926)
1858 – Georges Courteline, French dramatist (d. 1929)
1860 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer (d. 1956)
1863 – Emile Francqui, Belgian soldier and diplomat (d. 1935)
1864 – Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1941)
1865 – Robert Henri, American painter (d. 1929)
1884 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian poet (d. 1917)
1884 – Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, German art promoter (d. 1979)
1886 – Henry "Hap" Arnold, American general (d. 1950)
1887 – George Abbott, American playwright (d. 1995)
1887 – Frigyes Karinthy, Hungarian writer and journalist (d. 1938)
1892 – Shiro Ishii, Japanese war criminal (d. 1959)
1894 – Hermann Oberth, German physicist (d. 1989)
1900 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English statesman (d. 1979)
1901 – Harold Roe Bartle, American politician (d. 1974)
1902 – Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu of Japan (d. 1953)
1903 – George Orwell, British writer (d. 1950)
1903 – Anne Revere, American actress (d. 1990)
1907 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1973)
1908 – Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher (d. 2000)
1911 – William Howard Stein, American chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1980)
1912 – William T. Cahill, American politician (d. 1996)
1913 – Cyril Fletcher, British comedian (d. 2005)
1917 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (d. 2012)
1921 – Celia Franca, Canadian ballet dancer (d. 2007)
1923 – Nicholas Mosley, British writer
1923 – Sam Francis, America painter (d. 1994)
1924 – Sidney Lumet, American film director (d. 2011)
1925 – June Lockhart, American actress
1925 – Clifton Chenier, American zydeco musician & accordion player (d. 1987)
1926 – Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian writer (d. 1973)
1927 – Chuck Smith, American pastor
1927 – Antal Róka, Hungarian athlete (d. 1970)
1928 – Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate
1928 – Michel Brault, Canadian director and producer
1928 – Peyo, Belgian illustrator (d. 1992)
1928 – Bill Russo, American jazz composer (d. 2003)
1929 – Eric Carle, American author
1930 – George Murdock, American actor
1930 – Mary Beth Peil, American singer
1931 – Vishwanath Pratap Singh Indian Prime Minister(d.2008)
1932 – Peter Blake, British pop artist
1933 – James Meredith, American civil rights activist
1933 – Álvaro Siza Vieira, Portuguese architect
1934 – Jack W. Hayford, American church president
1934 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (d. 2006)
1935 – Eddie Floyd, American soul singer
1936 – Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, President of Indonesia
1939 – Allen Fox, American tennis player
1939 – Harold Melvin, American singer (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes) (d. 1997)
1940 – A.J. Quinnell, British writer (d. 2005)
1940 – Clint Warwick, English bassist (The Moody Blues) (d. 2004)
1941 – Denys Arcand, Canadian director
1942 – Nikiforos Diamandouros, Greek academic and ombudsman
1942 – Willis Reed, American basketball player
1942 – Michel Tremblay, Canadian playwright
1944 – Robert Charlebois, Canadian singer
1945 – Carly Simon, American singer and songwriter
1946 – Roméo Dallaire, Dutch-born Canadian senator
1946 – Ian McDonald, English saxophonist (King Crimson, Foreigner)
1947 – Jimmie Walker, American actor
1949 – Patrick Tambay, French racing driver
1950 – Nitza Saul, Israeli-born British actress
1950 – Marcello Toninelli, Italian writer
1952 – Péter Erdo, Hungarian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
1952 – Tim Finn, New Zealand singer and songwriter
1952 – Martin Gerschwitz, German keyboardist and violinist (Iron Butterfly)
1952 – Alan Green, Northern Irish TV commentator
1954 – David Paich, American keyboardist, singer and songwriter (Toto)
1954 – Daryush Shokof, Iranian filmmaker
1954 – Sonia Sotomayor, American Supreme Court associate justice
1956 – Anthony Bourdain, American chef and author
1956 – Boris Trajkovski, President of Macedonia (d. 2004)
1959 – Jari Puikkonen, Finnish ski jumper
1959 – Paris Themmen, American actor
1960 – Craig Johnston, Australian footballer
1961 – Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor and writer
1961 – Timur Bekmambetov, Kazakh-born producer and director
1962 – Phill Jupitus, English comedian and broadcaster
1963 – Doug Gilmour, Canadian ice hockey player
1963 – Jackie Swanson, American actress
1963 – John Benjamin Hickey, American actor
1963 – Yann Martel, Spanish-born Canadian novelist
1963 – George Michael, English singer and songwriter
1964 – Dell Curry, American basketball player
1964 – Johnny Herbert, English race car driver
1964 – Greg Raymer, American poker player
1964 – Emma Suárez, Spanish actress
1964 – Zeng Jinlian, Chinese giant (d. 1982)
1966 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese basketball player
1968 – Vaios Karagiannis, Greek footballer
1969 – Matt Gallant, American TV host
1969 – Zim Zum, American musician
1970 – Lucy Benjamin, British actress
1970 – Ariel Gore, American journalist and novelist
1970 – Roope Latvala, Finnish guitarist (Children of Bodom)
1970 – Erki Nool, Estonian decathlete
1970 – Aaron Sele, American baseball player
1971 – Angela Kinsey, American actress
1971 – Neil Lennon, Northern Irish footballer
1971 – Jason Lewis, American actor and former model
1971 – Scott Maslen, English actor
1971 – Santiago de Tezanos, Uruguayan architect
1971 – Michael Tucker, American baseball player
1972 – Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican baseball player
1973 – Milan Hnilicka, Czech ice hockey player
1973 – Jamie Redknapp, English footballer
1974 – Nisha Ganatra, Canadian film director
1974 – Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress
1974 – Jim LaMarca, American bass guitarist (Chimaira)
1975 – Linda Cardellini, American actress
1975 – Chenoa, Argentine-born Spanish singer
1975 – Albert Costa, Spanish tennis player
1975 – Natasha Klauss, Colombian actress
1975 – Vladimir Kramnik, Russian chess player
1975 – Michele Merkin, American model
1976 – José Cancela, Uruguayan footballer
1976 – Carlos Nieto, Argentine-born Italian rugby player
1976 – Iestyn Harris, Welsh former rugby league player and current coach
1977 – Lola Ponce, Argentine-born Italian singer, actress and model
1978 – Layla El, British dancer, model and wrestler
1978 – Aramis Ramirez, Dominican baseball player
1978 – Luke Scott, American baseball player
1978 – Aftab Shivdasani, Indian Bollywood actor
1978 – Marcus Stroud, American football player
1979 – Hirooki Goto, Japanese wrestler
1979 – Richard Hughes, Scottish footballer
1979 – La La, American actress and TV personality
1979 – Busy Philipps, American actress
1980 – Nozomi Takeuchi, Japanese actress
1981 – Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
1981 – Sheridan Smith, English actress
1981 – Pooja Umashanker, Indian actress
1982 – Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player
1982 – Rain, Korean singer and actor
1983 – Todd Cooper, English swimmer
1984 – Lauren Bush-Lauren, American model and fashion designer
1984 – Indigo, American actress
1985 – Daniel Bard, American baseball player
1985 – Karim Matmour, Algerian soccer player
1986 – Megan Burns, English actress and singer
1986 – Charlie Davies, American soccer player
1986 – Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer
1987 – Takahiro Ito, Japanese actor and voice actor (d. 2009)
1989 – Jack Cork, English footballer
1991 – Kyousuke Hamao, Japanese actor, singer and model
1993 – Barney Clark, English actor
2002 – Mason Vale Cotton, American actor

Deaths

253 – Pope Cornelius
635 – Emperor Gaozu, 1st Emperor of the Chinese Táng Dynasty (b. 566)
1134 – King Niels of Denmark (b. 1064)
1218 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, French crusader (b. 1160)
1291 – Eleanor of Provence, English noblewoman (b. abt. 1223)
1483 – Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, English writer
1522 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer (b. 1451)
1533 – Mary Tudor, English-born French noblewoman (b. 1496)
1579 – Hatano Hideharu, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1541)
1593 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and gardener (b. 1541)
1622 – Péter Révay, Hungarian poet, soldier and historian (b. 1568)
1634 – John Marston, English playwright (b. 1576)
1638 – Juan Pérez de Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1602)
1665 – Archduke Sigismund Francis of Austria (b. 1630)
1669 – François de Vendôme, duc de Beaufort, French soldier (b. 1616)
1673 – Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, French Musketeer (b. c. 1611)
1671 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian astronomer (b. 1598)
1686 – Simon Ushakov, Russian painter (b. 1626)
1715 – Jean du Casse, French admiral (b. 1646)
1767 – Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer (b. 1681)
1792 – Thomas Peters, one of the founding fathers of Sierra Leone (b. 1738)
1798 – Thomas Sandby, English architect (b. 1721)
1822 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German writer (b. 1776)
1838 – François Nicolas Benoît, Baron Haxo, French general (b. 1774)
1861 – Abd-ul-Mejid I, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1823)
1866 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish zoologist (b. 1803)
1868 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist (b. 1811)
1870 – David Heaton, American politician (b. 1823)
1875 – Antoine-Louis Barye, French sculptor (b. 1796)
1875 – Katherine McKinley, American daughter of William McKinley (b. 1871)
1876 – George Armstrong Custer, American Army officer (b. 1839)
1876 – Thomas Custer, American Army officer, two-time Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1845)
1876 – Boston Custer, American guide, forager, packer and scout (b. 1848)
1876 – James C. Calhoun, American Army lieutenant (b. 1845)
1876 – Myles Keogh, Irish soldier of fortune (b. 1840)
1882 – François Jouffroy, French sculptor (b. 1806)
1884 – Hans Rott, Austrian composer (b. 1858)
1906 – Stanford White, American architect (b. 1853)
1916 – Thomas Eakins, American artist (b. 1844)
1917 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian poet (b. 1884)
1918 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player (b. 1867)
1922 – Satyendranath Dutta, Bengali poet (b. 1882)
1937 – Colin Clive, British actor (b. 1900)
1944 – Dénes Berinkey, Hungarian jurist and politician (b. 1871)
1944 – Lucha Reyes, Mexican mariachi singer (b. 1906)
1948 – William C. Lee, American Army general (b. 1895)
1949 – Buck Freeman, American baseball player (b. 1871)
1950 – Muiris Ó Súilleabháin, Irish author (b. 1904)
1958 – Alfred Noyes, English poet (b. 1880)
1959 – Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (b. 1938)
1960 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (b. 1869)
1971 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1880)
1972 – Jan Matulka, American painter (b. 1890)
1974 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1893)
1976 – Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (b. 1909)
1977 – Endre Szervánszky, Hungarian composer (b. 1911)
1979 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director and producer (b. 1894)
1979 – Philippe Halsman, American photographer (b. 1906)
1983 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentine composer (b. 1916)
1984 – Michel Foucault, French philosopher (b. 1926)
1985 – Morris Mason, American murderer (b. 1954)
1987 – Boudleaux Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1920)
1988 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born American guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (b. 1962)
1990 – Ronald Gene Simmons, American mass murderer (b. 1940)
1992 – Jerome Brown, American football player (b. 1965)
1995 – Ernest Walton, Irish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
1996 – Sir Arthur Snelling, British ambassador (b. 1914)
1997 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau, French explorer (b. 1910)
1998 – Lounès Matoub, Algerian singer (b. 1956)
1999 – Fred Feast, English actor (b. 1929)
2002 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician (b. 1934)
2003 – Lester Maddox, American politician (b. 1915)
2005 – John Fiedler, American actor (b. 1925)
2005 – Kazim Koyuncu, Turkish musician and revolutionist (b.1971)
2006 – Jaap Penraat, Dutch architect (b. 1918)
2007 – Mahasti, Iranian singer (b. 1946)
2007 – J. Fred Duckett, American sports announcer and teacher (b. 1933)
2007 – Jeeva, Indian film director (b. 1963)
2008 – Lyall Watson, South African anthropologist and writer (b. 1939)
2009 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress (b. 1947)
2009 – Michael Jackson, American entertainer and pop icon (b. 1958)
2009 – Sky Saxon, American singer (The Seeds) (b. 1937)
2009 – Anil Wilson, Indian educationist (b. 1947)
2009 – Yasmine, Belgian singer (b. 1972)
2010 – Alan Plater, English playwright (b. 1935)
2010 – Richard B. Sellars, American business executive (b. 1915)
2011 – Margaret Tyzack, English actress (b. 1931)
2011 – Goff Richards, British composer and arranger