today.nukz.net: Almanac June 28 :: Maria Goeppert-Mayer

Maria Goeppert-Mayer (June 28, 1906 – February 20, 1972) was a German-born American theoretical physicist, and Nobel laureate in Physics for proposing the nuclear shell model of the atomic nucleus. She is the second female laureate in physics, after Marie Curie.

Her description of how "magic numbers" of nucleons engender atomic stability:
"Think of a room full of waltzers. Suppose they go round the room in circles, each circle enclosed within another. Then imagine that in each circle, you can fit twice as many dancers by having one pair go anti-clockwise and another pair go counterclockwise. Then add one more variation; all the dancers are spinning twirling round and round like tops as they circle the room, each pair both twirling and circling. But only some of those that go counterclockwise are twirling counterclockwise. The others are twirling clockwise while circling counterclockwise. The same is true of those that are dancing around clockwise: some twirl clockwise, others twirl counterclockwise."

Events

1098 – Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosull.
1389 – Battle of Kosovo takes place between Serbian and Ottoman army.
1461 – Edward IV is crowned King of England.
1519 – Charles V is elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
1635 – Guadeloupe becomes a French colony.
1651 – The Battle of Beresteczko between Poland and Ukraine starts.
1776 – The Battle of Sullivan's Island ends with the first decisive victory in the American Revolutionary War leading to the commemoration of Carolina Day.
1776 – Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and bodyguard to General George Washington, is hanged for mutiny and sedition.
1778 – The American Continentals engage the British in the Battle of Monmouth resulting in standstill and withdrawel under cover of darkness.
1807 – Second British invasion of the Río de la Plata; John Whitelock lands at Ensenada on an attempt to recapture Buenos Aires and is defeated by the locals.
1838 – Coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom.
1841 – The Paris Opera Ballet premieres Giselle in the Salle Le Peletier
1846 – The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France.
1859 – The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
1865 – The Army of the Potomac is disbanded.
1880 – The Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is captured at Glenrowan.
1881 – Secret treaty between Austria and Serbia.
1882 – The Anglo-French Convention of 1882 marks the territorial boundaries between Guinea and Sierra Leone.
1894 – Labor Day becomes an official US holiday.
1895 – El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua form the Greater Republic of Central America.
1895 – Court of Private Land Claims rules James Reavis' claim to Barony of Arizona is "wholly fictitious and fraudulent."
1896 – An explosion in the Newton Coal Company's Twin Shaft Mine in Pittston City, Pennsylvania results in a massive cave-in that kills 58 miners.
1902 – The U.S. Congress passes the Spooner Act, authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt to acquire rights from Colombia for the Panama Canal.
1904 – The SS Norge runs aground and sinks
1914 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife are assassinated in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I.
1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, bringing fighting to an end in between Germany and the Allies of World War I.
1921 – Serbian King Alexander I proclaimed the new constitution of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, known thereafter as the Vidovdan Constitution.
1922 – The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces.
1936 – The Japanese puppet state of Mengjiang is formed in northern China.
1940 – Romania cedes Bessarabia (current-day Moldova) to the Soviet Union.
1942 – Nazi Germany started its strategic summer offensive against the Soviet Union, codenamed Case Blue
1948 – The Cominform circulates the "Resolution on the situation in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia"; Yugoslavia is expelled from the Communist bloc.
1948 – Boxer Dick Turpin beats Vince Hawkins at Villa Park in Birmingham to become the first black British boxing champion in the modern era.
1950 – Korean War: Seoul is captured by North Korean troops.
1950 – Korean War: Suspected communist sympathizers, argued to be between 100,000 and 1,200,000 are executed in the Bodo League massacre.
1950 – Korean War: Packed with its own refugees fleeing Seoul and leaving their 5th Division stranded, South Korean forces blow up the Hangang Bridge to in attempt to slow North Korea's offensive.
1956 – in Poznan, workers from HCP factory went to the streets, sparking one of the first major protests against communist government both in Poland and Europe.
1964 – Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
1967 – Israel annexes East Jerusalem.
1969 – Stonewall Riots begin in New York City marking the start of the Gay Rights Movement.
1973 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.
1976 – The Angolan court sentenced US and UK mercenaries to death sentences and prison terms in the Luanda Trial.
1978 – The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke bars quota systems in college admissions.
1981 – A powerful bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of Islamic Republic Party.
1987 – For the first time in military history, a civilian population was targeted for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht.
1989 – On the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, Slobodan Miloševic delivers the Gazimestan speech at the site of the historic battle.
1992 – The Constitution of Estonia is signed into law.
1994 – Members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult release sarin gas in Matsumoto, Japan; 7 persons are killed, 660 injured.
1996 – The Constitution of Ukraine is signed into law.
1997 – Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield II – Tyson is disqualified in the 3rd round for biting a piece off Holyfield's ear.
2001 – Slobodan Miloševic deported to ICTY to stand trial.
2004 – Sovereign power is handed to the interim government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led rule of that nation.
2005 – War in Afghanistan: Three U.S. Navy SEALs, 16 American Special Operations Forces soldiers, and an unknown number of Taliban insurgents are killed
2009 – Honduran president Manuel Zelaya is ousted by local military forces following a failed request to hold a referendum to change the Honduran Constitution in order to serve a second term. This was the start of the 2009 Honduran political crisis.

Births

1476 – Pope Paul IV (d. 1559)
1490 – Albert of Mainz, bishop and elector of Mainz (d. 1545)
1491 – King Henry VIII of England (d. 1547)
1503 – Giovanni della Casa, Italian poet (d. 1556)
1547 – Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian composer (d. 1599)
1577 – Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish painter (d. 1640)
1641 – Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien (d. 1716)
1664 – Nicolas Bernier, French composer (d. 1734)
1703 – John Wesley, English founder of Methodism (d. 1791)
1712 – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher and polymath (d. 1778)
1719 – Étienne François, duc de Choiseul, French statesman (d. 1785)
1734 – Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier, French organist and composer (d. 1794)
1824 – Paul Broca, French physician (d. 1880)
1831 – Joseph Joachim, Austrian violinist (d. 1907)
1836 – Emmanuel Rhoides, Greek writer and journalist (d. 1904)
1852 – Charles Cruft, English business man (d. 1938)
1867 – Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer, Nobel laureate (d. 1936)
1873 – Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, Nobel laureate (d. 1944)
1875 – Henri Lebesgue, French mathematician (d. 1941)
1883 – Pierre Laval, Prime Minister of France (d. 1945)
1884 – Lamina Sankoh, Sierra Leone politician (d. 1964)
1891 – Esther Forbes, American writer (d. 1968)
1891 – Carl Panzram, American serial killer (d. 1930)
1891 – Carl Spaatz, American Air Force general (d. 1974)
1900 – Bob Taggart, Scottish centenarian (d. 2009)
1902 – Richard Rodgers, American composer (d. 1979)
1906 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1972)
1907 – Emily Perry, English actress (d. 2008)
1907 – Jimmy Mundy, American jazz tenor saxophonist (d. 1983)
1909 – Eric Ambler, English writer (d. 1998)
1912 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor (d. 1996)
1912 – Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, German physicist and philosopher (d. 2007)
1913 – Franz Antel, Austrian filmmaker (d. 2007)
1913 – Walter Oesau, German pilot (d. 1944)
1914 – Aribert Heim, Austrian physician (d. 1992)
1915 – David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Delta blues guitarist and singer (d. 2011)
1916 – Olle Björklund, Swedish actor and news presenter (d. 1981)
1917 – Katherine Rawls, American swimming champion (d. 1982)
1918 – Willie Whitelaw, British politician (d. 1999)
1920 – A. E. Hotchner, American editor, novelist and playwright
1921 – P. V. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India (d. 2004)
1922 – Michael Vale, American actor (d. 2005)
1923 – Adolfo Schwelm Cruz, Argentine racing driver
1923 – Pete Candoli, American jazz trumpeter, brother of Conte Candoli (d. 2008)
1926 – Mel Brooks, American filmmaker
1927 – Corelli Barnett, British military historian
1927 – Frank Sherwood Rowland, American chemist, Nobel laureate
1928 – Hans Blix, Swedish diplomat and politician
1928 – Harold Evans, English journalist and editor
1928 – Cyril Smith, English Liberal politician (d. 2010)
1930 – Itamar Franco, President of Brazil (d. 2011)
1931 – Junior Johnson, American NASCAR driver
1931 – Lucien Victor, Belgian cyclist (d. 1995)
1932 – Pat Morita, American actor (d. 2005)
1933 – Gusty Spence, Northern Irish politician
1934 – Robert Carswell, British law lord
1934 – Carl Levin, American politician
1935 – John Inman, English actor (d. 2007)
1936 – Chuck Howley, American football player
1937 – Richard Bright, American actor (d. 2006)
1937 – George Knudson, Canadian golfer (d. 1989)
1937 – Ron Luciano, American baseball umpire (d. 1995)
1937 – Tom Magliozzi, American radio personality
1938 – John Byner, American comedian
1938 – Leon Panetta, American Director of the CIA.
1940 – Karpal Singh, Malaysian politician
1940 – Roderick Wright, Scottish bishop (d. 2005)
1940 – Muhammad Yunus, Bangladeshi economist, Nobel laureate
1941 – Al Downing, American baseball player
1941 – Joseph Goguen, American computer scientist (d. 2006)
1941 – Ann Leslie, English journalist
1942 – Chris Hani, South African politician, party leader (d. 1993)
1942 – David Miner, American guitarist and record producer
1942 – Frank Zane, American bodybuilder
1943 – Jens Birkemose, Danish painter
1943 – Donald Johanson, American paleoanthropologist
1943 – Klaus von Klitzing, German physicist, Nobel laureate
1945 – Ken Buchanan, Scottish boxer
1945 – David Knights, English bassist (Procol Harum)
1946 – Howard Barker, English playwright
1946 – Bruce Davison, American actor
1946 – David Duckham, English rugby player
1946 – Roger Godsiff, English politician
1946 – Jaime Guzmán, Chilean politician (d. 1991)
1946 – Gilda Radner, American comedienne (d. 1989)
1947 – Robert Bondi, American politician
1947 – Mark Clark, American activist (d. 1969)
1947 – Clarissa Dickson Wright, English celebrity chef
1947 – Anny Duperey, French actress
1947 – Mark Helprin, American writer
1948 – Kathy Bates, American actress
1950 – David Lanz, American pianist
1950 – Mauricio Rojas, Swedish politician
1951 – Lalla Ward, British actress
1952 – Ray Ashcroft, English actor
1952 – Pietro Mennea, Italian sprinter
1954 – A. A. Gill, British writer and columnist
1954 – Alice Krige, South African actress
1955 – Shirley Cheriton, English actress
1955 – Eric Gates, English footballer
1955 – Steven M. Greer, American ufologist and author
1955 – Thomas Hampson, American baritone
1956 – Amira Hass, Israeli journalist
1956 – Noel Mugavin, Australian Rules Football player
1957 – Lance Nethery, Canadian ice hockey player and executive
1957 – Georgi Parvanov, President of Bulgaria
1957 – Mike Skinner, American racecar driver
1957 – Jim Spanarkel, American basketball player and TV personality
1958 – Donna F. Edwards, American politician
1958 – Félix Gray, French singer and songwriter
1959 – Clint Boon, English musician and D.J.
1960 – John Elway, American football player
1961 – Jeff Malone, American basketball player
1962 – Artur Hajzer, Polish mountaineer
1963 – Peter Baynham, Welsh comedian and television writer
1963 – Charlie Clouser, American musicians (Nine Inch Nails)
1963 – Wisit Sasanatieng, Thai film director
1963 – Tierney Sutton, American jazz vocalist
1964 – Mark Grace, American baseball player
1964 – DJ Quicksilver, Turkish disc jockey and music producer
1965 – Jessica Hecht, American actress
1965 – Sonny Strait, American voice actor
1966 – John Cusack, American actor
1966 – Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress
1966 – Sara Stewart, Scottish actress
1966 – Bobby Bare, Jr., American musician, son of Bobby Bare
1967 – Gil Bellows, Canadian actor
1967 – Lars Riedel, German discus thrower
1968 – Adam Woodyatt, English actor
1968 – Chayanne, Puerto Rican singer
1969 – Danielle Brisebois, American actress
1969 – Ayelet Zurer, Israeli actress
1970 – Mushtaq Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer
1970 – Steve Burton, American actor
1970 – Tom Merritt, American journalist
1970 – Mike White, American filmmaker and actor
1971 – Lorenzo Amoruso, Italian footballer
1971 – Tichina Arnold, American actress and singer
1971 – Fabien Barthez, French footballer
1971 – Kenny Cunningham, Irish footballer
1971 – Norika Fujiwara, Japanese actress
1971 – Bobby Hurley, American basketball player
1971 – Ron Mahay, American baseball player
1971 – Louise Mensch, English politician and novelist
1971 – Aileen Quinn, American actress
1971 – Ray Slijngaard, Dutch musician
1972 – Jon Heidenreich, American wrestler
1972 – Christopher Leslie, English politician
1972 – Ngo Bao Chau, Vietnamese-French mathematician, Fields medalist
1972 – Alessandro Nivola, American actor
1973 – Adrián Annus, Hungarian athlete
1973 – Corey Koskie, Canadian baseball player
1974 – Rob Dyrdek, American skateboarder
1974 – Alexis Tsipras, Greek politician, party predident
1975 – Ning Baizura, Malaysian singer
1975 – Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish guitarist and vocalist (d. 2006)
1976 – Shinobu Asagoe, Japanese tennis player
1976 – Seth Wescott, American snowboarder
1977 – Chris Spurling, American baseball player
1977 – Mark Stoermer, American bass player (The Killers)
1977 – Measha Brueggergosman, Canadian soprano vocalist, primarily classical but also popular
1977 – Harun Tekin, Turkish musician (Mor ve Ötesi)
1978 – Simon Larose, Canadian tennis player
1978 – Ha Ji-won, South Korean actress and singer
1979 – Jeanette Aw, Singaporean actress
1979 – Felicia Day, American actress, writer, director, violinist, and singer
1979 – Randy McMichael, American football player
1979 – Florian Zeller, French novelist and playwright
1981 – Michael Crafter, Australian vocalist and bassist (I Killed the Prom Queen)
1981 – Brandon Phillips, American baseball player
1982 – Elaine Tan, English actress
1983 – Maui Taylor, Filipino model and singer
1984 – Tamara Ecclestone, English socialite and television presenter
1985 – Phil Bardsley, English footballer
1986 – Kellie Pickler, American singer
1986 – Shadia Simmons, Canadian actress
1987 – Bailey Tzuke, English singer-songwriter
1987 – Terrence Williams, American basketball player
1988 – Lacey Schwimmer, American dancer
1990 – Nick Purcell, American actor
1990 – Jasmine Richards, Canadian actress
1991 – Kevin De Bruyne, Belgian footballer
1991 – Seohyun (Seo Joo-hyun), South Korean singer (Girls' Generation)
1994 – Madeline Duggan, English actress
1994 – Prince Hussein bin Al Abdullah II, Prince of Jordan
1995 – Kåre Hedebrant, Swedish actor
1996 – Donna Vekic, Croatian tennis player

Deaths

548 – Theodora, Byzantine Empress (b. c. 500)
572 – Alboin, King of the Lombards (b. c. 530)
767 – Pope Paul I (b. 700)
928 – Louis the Blind, King of Provence and Holy Roman Emperor (b. c. 880)
1061 – Floris I, Count of Holland (b. c. 1020)
1175 – Andrei I Bogolyubsky, Russian prince (b. c. 1111)
1194 – Emperor Xiaozong of Song, Emperor of China (b. 1127)
1385 – Andronikos IV Palaiologos, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1348)
1389 – Lazar Hrebeljanovic, Prince of Serbia (b. 1329)
1586 – Primož Trubar, Slovenian Protestant reformer (b. 1508)
1598 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer (b. 1527)
1716 – George FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, English general (b. 1665)
1813 – Gerhard von Scharnhorst, Prussian general (b. 1755)
1834 – Joseph Bové, Russian architect (b. 1784)
1836 – James Madison, 4th President of the United States (b. 1751)
1880 – Texas Jack Omohundro, American frontier scout, actor (b. 1846)
1881 – Jules Armand Dufaure, French statesman (b. 1798)
1889 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer (b. 1818)
1892 – Alexandros Rhizos Rhankaves, Greek poet and statesman (b. 1810)
1913 – Manoel Ferraz de Campos Salles, President of Brazil (b. 1841)
1914 – Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria (b. 1863)
1914 – Sophie Chotek, Austrian Countess (b. 1868)
1915 – Victor Trumper, Australian cricketer (b. 1877)
1916 – Stefan Luchian, Romanian painter (b. 1868)
1922 – Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet (b. 1885)
1929 – Edward Carpenter, English poet (b. 1844)
1935 – Meletius IV, Greek patriarch (b. 1871)
1936 – Alexander Berkman, American anarchist and writer (d. 1870)
1960 – Jake Swirbul, American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1898)
1962 – Mickey Cochrane, American baseball player (b. 1903)
1962 – Cy Morgan, American baseball player (b. 1878)
1965 – Red Nichols, American jazz cornetist and composer (b. 1905)
1971 – Franz Stangl, Austrian kommandant (b. 1908)
1974 – Frank Sutton, American actor (b. 1923)
1975 – Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis, Greek architect (b. 1913)
1975 – Serge Reding, Belgian weightlifter (b. 1941)
1975 – Rod Serling, American TV scriptwriter (b. 1924)
1976 – Stanley Baker, Welsh actor and producer (b. 1927)
1978 – Clifford Dupont, First President of Rhodesia (b. 1905)
1980 – José Iturbi, Spanish pianist and conductor (b. 1895)
1981 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
1984 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archeologist, politician (b. 1917)
1985 – Lambros Konstantaras, Greek actor (b. 1913)
1989 – Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1898)
1992 – Mikhail Tal, Latvian chess player (b. 1936)
1993 – GG Allin, American singer (b. 1956)
1995 – Petri Walli, Finnish guitarist and singer (Kingston Wall) (b. 1969)
2000 – Jane Birdwood, English activist (b. 1913)
2000 – Nils Poppe, Swedish actor (b. 1908)
2001 – Mortimer Adler, American philosopher (b. 1902)
2001 – Joan Sims, English actress (b. 1930)
2003 – Wim Slijkhuis, Dutch athlete (b. 1923)
2004 – Anthony Buckeridge, English author (b. 1912)
2005 – Brenda Howard, American activist (b. 1946)
2005 – Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy SEAL, first recipient of the Medal of Honor in the Afghanistan War (b. 1976)
2006 – Jim Baen, American publisher and editor (b. 1943)
2006 – George Page, American TV host (b. 1935)
2006 – Peter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell, English barrister, politician and author (b. 1919)
2006 – George Unwin, English WWII fighter ace (b. 1913)
2007 – Eugene Bennett Fluckey, American Naval Officer and distinguished hero (b. 1913)
2007 – Kiichi Miyazawa, 78th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1919)
2008 – Ruslana Korshunova, Kazakhstani model (b. 1987)
2009 – A. K. Lohithadas, Indian screenwriter, director, and producer (b. 1955)
2009 – Billy Mays, American TV pitchman (b. 1958)
2009 – Fred Travalena, American comedian and impressionist (b. 1942)
2010 – Bill Aucoin, American band manager (b. 1943)
2010 – Robert Byrd, American politician (b. 1917)
2011 – Angélico Vieira, Portuguese musician and actor (b. 1982)