today.nukz.net: Almanac August 30 :: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Until the 1970s, Mary Shelley was known mainly for her efforts to publish Percy Shelley's works and for her novel Frankenstein, which remains widely read and has inspired many theatrical and film adaptations. Recent scholarship has yielded a more comprehensive view of Mary Shelley’s achievements. Scholars have shown increasing interest in her literary output, particularly in her novels, which include the historical novels Valperga (1823) and Perkin Warbeck (1830), the apocalyptic novel The Last Man (1826), and her final two novels, Lodore (1835) and Falkner (1837). Studies of her lesser-known works such as the travel book Rambles in Germany and Italy (1844) and the biographical articles for Dionysius Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia (1829–46) support the growing view that Mary Shelley remained a political radical throughout her life. Mary Shelley's works often argue that cooperation and sympathy, particularly as practised by women in the family, were the ways to reform civil society. This view was a direct challenge to the individualistic Romantic ethos promoted by Percy Shelley and the Enlightenment political theories articulated by her father, William Godwin.

Events

526 – King Theodoric the Great dies of dysentery at Ravenna; his daughter Amalasuntha takes power as regent for her 10-year old son Athalaric.
1363 – Beginning date of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders — Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang — are pitted against each other in what is one of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty.
1574 – Guru Ram Das becomes the Fourth Sikh Guru/Master.
1590 – Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle. (Traditional Japanese date: August 1, 1590)
1791 – HMS Pandora sinks after having run aground on a reef the previous day.
1799 – The entire Dutch fleet is captured by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell during the Second Coalition of the French Revolutionary Wars.
1800 – Gabriel Prosser postpones a planned slave rebellion in Richmond, Virginia, but is arrested before he can make it happen.
1813 – Battle of Kulm: French forces are defeated by an Austrian-Prussian-Russian alliance.
1813 – Creek War – Fort Mims massacre: Creek "Red Sticks" kill over 500 settlers (including over 250 armed militia) in Fort Mims, north of Mobile, Alabama.
1835 – Melbourne, Australia is founded.
1836 – The city of Houston is founded by Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen
1862 – American Civil War – Battle of Richmond: Confederates under Edmund Kirby Smith rout Union forces under General Horatio Wright.
1873 – Austrian explorers Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht discover the archipelago of Franz Joseph Land in the Arctic Sea.
1896 – Philippine Revolution: After Spanish victory in the Battle of San Juan del Monte, eight provinces in the Philippines are declared under martial law by the Spanish Governor-General Ramón Blanco y Erenas.
1897 – The town of Ambiky is captured by France from Menabe in Madagascar.
1909 – Burgess Shale fossils are discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott.
1914 – World War I: Germans defeat the Russians in the Battle of Tannenberg
1918 – Fanny Kaplan shoots and seriously injures Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. This, along with the assassination of Bolshevik senior official Moisei Uritsky days earlier, prompts the decree for Red Terror.
1922 – Battle of Dumlupinar: the final battle in the Greek-Turkish War ("Turkish War of Independence").
1940 – The Second Vienna Award re-assigns the territory of Northern Transylvania from Romania to Hungary.
1942 – World War II: the Battle of Alam Halfa begins.
1945 – Hong Kong is liberated from Japan by British Armed Forces.
1945 – The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Douglas MacArthur lands at Atsugi Air Force Base.
1945 – The Allied Control Council, governing Germany after World War II, comes into being.
1956 – The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway opens.
1962 – Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since World War II and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war.
1963 – The Hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union goes into operation.
1967 – Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
1974 – A Belgrade–Dortmund express train derails at the main train station in Zagreb killing 153 passengers.
1974 – A powerful bomb explodes at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi, Tokyo, Japan. 8 are killed, 378 are injured. Eight left-wing activists are arrested on May 19, 1975 by Japanese authorities.
1981 – President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar of Iran are assassinated in a bombing committed by the People's Mujahedin of Iran.
1984 – STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.
1995 – NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
1999 – East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia in a referendum.
2003 – While being towed across the Barents Sea, the de-commissioned Russian submarine K-159 sinks, taking 9 of her crew and 800 kg of spent nuclear fuel with her.

Births

1334 – King Peter of Castile (d. 1369)
1377 – Shah Rukh, ruler of Persia and Transoxonia (d. 1447)
1705 – David Hartley, English philosopher (d. 1757)
1720 – Samuel Whitbread, English brewer (d. 1796)
1748 – Jacques-Louis David, French painter (d. 1825)
1768 – Joseph Dennie, American writer (d. 1812)
1797 – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, English writer (d. 1851)
1808 – Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (d. 1892)
1812 – Agoston Haraszthy Hungarian-born traveler and writer (d. 1869)
1813 – Princess Mathilde of Bavaria (d. 1862)
1818 – Alexander H. Rice, 30th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1895)
1821 – Anita Garibaldi, Brazilian revolutionary and wife of Giuseppe Garibaldi (d. 1849)
1839 – Gulstan Ropert, French Catholic prelate (d. 1903)
1842 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1849)
1848 – Andrew Onderdonk, Canadian railway contractor (d. 1905)
1850 – Marcelo H. del Pilar, Filipino writer, journalist and revolutionary (d. 1896)
1852 – Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Dutch physical and organic chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1911)
1856 – Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (d. 1927)
1860 – Isaac Levitan, Russian artist (d. 1900)
1870 – Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia (d. 1891)
1871 – Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-born British chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1937)
1884 – Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1971)
1890 – Samuel Frederick Henry Thompson, British fighter ace (d. 1918)
1893 – Huey Long, American politician (d. 1935)
1896 – Raymond Massey, Canadian actor (d. 1983)
1898 – Shirley Booth, American actress (d. 1992)
1901 – Roy Wilkins, American civil rights leader (d. 1981)
1901 – John Gunther, American writer (d. 1970)
1906 – Joan Blondell, American actress (d. 1979)
1908 – Fred MacMurray, American actor (d. 1991)
1910 – Roger Bushell, South African RAF officer and prisoner of war (d. 1944)
1912 – Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
1912 – Nancy Wake, British war agent (d. 2011)
1913 – Richard Stone, British economist, Nobel laureate (d. 1991)
1915 – Robert Strassburg, American composer (d. 2003)
1917 – Denis Healey, British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
1917 – Vladimir Kirillovich, Grand Duke of Russia, pretender to the Russian throne (d. 1992)
1918 – Ted Williams, American baseball player (d. 2002)
1918 – Billy Johnson, American baseball player (d. 2006)
1919 – Kitty Wells, American singer (d. 2012)
1919 – Wolfgang Wagner, German opera director (d. 2010)
1922 – Lionel Murphy, Australian politician (d. 1986)
1922 – Regina Resnik, American mezzo-soprano
1923 – Barbara Ansell, British physician, founder of paediatric rheumatology (d. 2001)
1923 – Charmian Clift, Australian writer and essayist (d. 1969)
1923 – Nate Saint, American Evangelical Christian missionary (d. 1956)
1923 – Vic Seixas, American tennis player
1924 – Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (d. 2004)
1924 – Lajos Kisfaludy, Hungarian chemical engineer (d. 1988)
1925 – Laurent de Brunhoff, French writer and illustrator
1926 – Daryl Gates, American police chief (d. 2010)
1927 – Bill Daily, American actor
1928 – Lloyd Casner, American racecar driver and owner (d. 1965)
1929 – Guy de Lussigny, French painter (d. 2001)
1930 – Warren Buffett, American entrepreneur
1930 – Noel Harford, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1981)
1931 – John Leonard "Jack" Swigert, Jr., American astronaut (d. 1982)
1933 – Don Getty, Canadian politician
1934 – Baloo Gupte, Indian cricketer (d. 2005)
1935 – John Phillips, American singer-songwriter (The Mamas & the Papas) (d. 2001)
1937 – Bruce McLaren, New Zealand car racer and founder of McLaren racing team (d. 1970)
1939 – John Peel, English radio disc jockey (d. 2004)
1939 – Elizabeth Ashley, American actress
1941 – Ben L. Jones, American actor, politician and essayist
1942 – Pervez Sajjad, Pakistani cricketer
1943 – Tal Brody, American-born Israeli basketball player
1943 – Robert Crumb, American cartoonist
1943 – Jean-Claude Killy, French skier
1944 – Molly Ivins, American political humorist (d. 2007)
1944 – Tug McGraw, American baseball player (d. 2004)
1946 – Peggy Lipton, American actress
1946 – Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
1947 – Allan Rock, Canadian politician and diplomat
1948 – Lewis Black, American comedian
1948 – Fred Hampton, American Black Panther Party leader (d. 1969)
1948 – Donnacha O'Dea, Irish poker player and swimmer
1949 – Ted Ammon, American financier (d. 2001)
1949 – Don Boudria, Canadian politician
1949 – Christopher Collins, American actor and comedian (d. 1994)
1949 – Peter Maffay, German singer-songwriter
1950 – Antony Gormley, English sculptor
1951 – Timothy Bottoms, American actor
1951 – Dana Rosemary Scallon, Irish singer (as Dana) and politician
1953 – Horace Panter, British bassist (The Specials, General Public)
1953 – Robert Parish, American basketball player
1953 – Ron George, American politician
1954 – David Paymer, American actor
1954 – Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus
1956 – Frank Conniff, American comedian (TV's Frank)
1958 – Martin Jackson, British drummer (Swing out Sister)
1958 – Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist (d. 2006)
1959 – Mark "Jacko" Jackson, Australian rules footballer and actor
1960 – Gary Gordon, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1993)
1960 – Guy A. Lepage, Canadian humorist, television host and producer
1962 – Alexander Litvinenko, Russian KGB officer (d. 2006)
1963 – Mark Strong, English actor
1963 – Michael Chiklis, American actor
1963 – Paul Oakenfold, British disc jockey
1963 – Oderus Urungus, American vocalist (GWAR)
1964 – Gavin Fisher, British engineer
1966 – Michael Michele, American actress
1967 – Justin Vaughan, New Zealand cricketer
1967 – Frederique van der Wal, Dutch model
1968 – Vladimir Malakhov, Russian ice hockey player
1969 – Dimitris Sgouros, Greek pianist
1970 – Carlo Checchinato, Italian rugby player and manager
1970 – Michael Wong, Malaysia-born Chinese singer
1971 – Lars Frederiksen, American guitarist (Rancid and UK Subs)
1972 – Cameron Diaz, American actress
1972 – Pavel Nedved, Czech footballer
1973 – Lisa Ling, American journalist
1974 – Javier Otxoa, Spanish cyclist
1974 – Aaron Barrett, American vocalist and guitarist (Reel Big Fish)
1975 – Radhi Jaïdi, Tunisian footballer
1976 – Mike Koplove, American baseball player
1976 – Sarah-Jane Potts, English actress
1977 – Shaun Alexander, American football player
1977 – Marlon Byrd, American baseball player
1977 – Elden Henson, American actor
1977 – Kamil Kosowski, Polish footballer
1977 – Jens Ludwig, German guitarist (Edguy)
1977 – Félix Sánchez, Dominican-American Olympic athlete
1978 – Cliff Lee, American baseball player
1978 – Sinead Kerr, Irish figure skater
1979 – Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentine tennis player
1979 – Niki Chow, Hong Kong actress and singer
1979 – Leon Lopez, British actor
1979 – Scott Richmond, Canadian baseball player
1979 – Tavia Yeung, Hong Kong actress
1980 – Derrick Ward, American football player
1981 – Germán Legarreta, American actor
1981 – Adam Wainwright, American baseball player
1982 – Will Davison, Australian racing driver
1982 – Andy Roddick, American tennis player
1983 – Gustavo Eberto, Argentine footballer (d. 2007)
1983 – Jun Matsumoto, Japanese singer and actor (Arashi)
1983 – Simone Pepe, Italian footballer
1983 – Marco Vianello, Italian footballer
1983 – Emmanuel Culio, Argentine footballer
1984 – Anthony Ireland, Zimbabwean cricketer
1985 – Richard Duffy, Welsh footballer
1985 – Joe Inoue, American singer
1985 – Leisel Jones, Australian swimmer
1985 – Éva Risztov, Hungarian swimmer
1985 – Steven Smith, Scottish footballer
1985 – Eamon Sullivan, Australian swimmer
1986 – Lelia Masaga, New Zealand rugby player
1986 – Ryan Ross, American guitarist (Panic! at the Disco)
1987 – Tania Foster, British singer
1988 – Michael Cavanaugh, American professional gamer
1988 – Ernests Gulbis, Latvian tennis player
1988 – Laura Põldvere, Estonian singer
1989 – Simone Guerra, Italian footballer
1989 – Ronald Huth, Paraguayan footballer
1991 – Liam Cooper, Scottish footballer
2001 – Emily Bear, American pianist and composer

Deaths

526 – Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy (b. 454)
1158 – King Sancho III of Castile (b. 1134)
1329 – Khutughtu Khan, Emperor Mingzong of Yuan, emperor of the Yuan Dynasty and the Mongol Empire (b. 1300)
1428 – Emperor Shoko of Japan (b. 1401)
1483 – King Louis XI of France (b. 1423)
1580 – Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (b. 1528)
1619 – Shimazu Yoshihiro, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1535)
1751 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (b. 1661)
1856 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (b. 1811)
1879 – John Bell Hood, American Confederate general (b. 1831)
1886 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American politician (b. 1836)
1896 – Alexei Lobanov-Rostovsky, Russian statesman (b. 1824)
1906 – Hans Auer, Swiss architect (b. 1847)
1907 – Richard Mansfield, American actor and manager (b. 1857)
1928 – Wilhelm Wien, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
1935 – Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (b. 1873)
1938 – Max Factor, Sr., Polish-born American make-up artist and cosmetic manufacturer (b. 1877)
1938 – Oscar De Somville, Belgian rower (b. 1876)
1940 – J.J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1856)
1941 – Peder Oluf Pedersen, Danish engineer and physicist (b. 1874)
1943 – Father Eustáquio van Lieshout, Dutch Catholic priest (b. 1890)
1945 – Alfréd Schaffer, Hungarian footballer (b. 1893)
1946 – Konstantin Rodzaevsky, Russian fascist (b. 1907)
1947 – Gunnar Sommerfeldt, Danish actor and director (b. 1890)
1949 – Arthur Fielder, English cricketer (b. 1877)
1961 – Charles Coburn, American actor (b. 1877)
1963 – Guy Burgess, English-born Soviet spy (b. 1911)
1968 – William Talman, American actor (b. 1915)
1970 – Del Moore, American comedian (b. 1916)
1979 – Jean Seberg, American actress (b. 1938)
1981 – Vera-Ellen, American actress (b. 1921)
1981 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, Iranian statesman (b. 1933)
1985 – Taylor Caldwell, English-born American novelist (b. 1900)
1986 – Benjamin Hurrell English ponography star (b. 1950)
1989 – Seymour Krim, American journalist, essayist and literary critic (b. 1922)
1991 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss painter and sculptor (b. 1925)
1991 – Vladimír Padrunek, Czech rock bass guitar player (b. 1952)
1993 – Richard Jordan, American actor (b. 1938)
1994 – Lindsay Anderson, English film director (b. 1923)
1995 – Fischer Black, American economist (b. 1938)
1995 – Sterling Morrison, American guitarist (The Velvet Underground) (b. 1942)
1996 – Christine Pascal, French actress and director (b. 1953)
1999 – Raymond Poïvet, French comics artist (b. 1910
2000 – David Haskell, American actor (b. 1948)
2001 – Ivor Spencer-Thomas, English farmer, entrepreneur and inventor (b. 1907)
2002 – J. Lee Thompson, English film director (b. 1914)
2003 – Charles Bronson, American actor (b. 1921)
2003 – Donald Davidson, American philosopher (b. 1917)
2004 – Indian Larry, American motorcycle builder and stuntman (b. 1949)
2004 – Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (b. 1906)
2006 – Robin Cooke, Baron Cooke of Thorndon, New Zealand jurist and member of the British House of Lords (b. 1926)
2006 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1916)
2006 – Naguib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1911)
2007 – Michael Jackson, British beer and whiskey author and expert (b. 1942)
2007 – Charles Vanik, American politician (b. 1918)
2008 – Walter "Killer" Kowalski, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1926)
2009 – Klaus-Peter Hanisch, German footballer (b. 1952)
2010 – Alain Corneau, French filmmaker (b. 1943)
2010 – Francisco Varallo, Argentine footballer (b. 1910)
2010 – J. C. Bailey, American professional wrestler (b. 1983)