today.nukz.net: Almanac September 16

Riley B. King (born September 16, 1925), known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American songwriter, vocalist, and famed blues guitarist.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. and No. 17 in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. According to Edward M. Komara, King "introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that would influence virtually every electric blues guitarist that followed." King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He is widely considered one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, because of this he is often nicknamed 'The King of Blues'. He is also known for performing tirelessly throughout his musical career appearing at 250-300 concerts per year until his seventies. In 1956 it was noted that he appeared at 342 shows, still at the age of 86 King appears at 100 shows a year.

Events

307 – Severus II is captured and imprisoned at Tres Tabernae. He is later executed (or forced to commit suicide) after Emperor Galerius unsuccessfully invades Italy.
1400 – Owain Glyndwr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers.
1620 – The Mayflower starts her voyage to North America
1701 – James Francis Edward Stuart, sometimes called the "Old Pretender", becomes the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Harlem Heights is fought.
1779 – American Revolutionary War: The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins.
1795 – The first occupation by United Kingdom of Cape Colony, South Africa with the Battle of Hout Bay, after successive victories at the Battle of Muizenberg and Wynberg, after William V requested protection against revolutionary France's occupation of the Netherlands.
1810 – With the Grito de Dolores, Father Miguel Hidalgo begins Mexico's fight for independence from Spain.
1812 – The Fire of Moscow (1812) begins shortly after midnight and destroys three quarters of the city days later.
1863 – Robert College of Istanbul-Turkey, the first American educational institution outside the United States, is founded by Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist.
1880 – The Cornell Daily Sun prints its first issue in Ithaca, New York. The Sun is the nation's oldest, continuously-independent college daily in the United States.
1893 – Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma.
1908 – The General Motors Corporation is founded.
1919 – The American Legion is incorporated.
1920 – The Wall Street bombing: a bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building in New York City – 38 are killed and 400 injured.
1940 – World War II: Italian troops conquer Sidi Barrani.
1941 – World War II: Concerned that Reza Pahlavi the Shah of Persia is about to ally his petroleum-rich empire with Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union invade Iran in late August and force the Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
1943 – World War II: The Allied invasion of Italy concludes when Heinrich von Vietinghoff, commander of the German Tenth Army, orders his troops to withdraw from Salerno.
1945 – World War II: The surrender of the Japanese troops in Hong Kong. The surrender is accepted by the Royal Navy Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt.
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hits Saitama, Tokyo and Tone River area, at least 1,930 killed.
1955 – Juan Perón is deposed as the ruler of Argentina.
1955 – A Soviet Navy Zulu class submarine becomes the first submarine to launch a ballistic missile.
1959 – The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
1961 – The United States National Hurricane Research Project drops eight cylinders of silver iodide into the eyewall of Hurricane Esther. Wind speed reduces by 10%, giving rise to Project Stormfury.
1963 – Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore soon leaves this new country,
1966 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera, Antony and Cleopatra.
1970 – King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
1971 – Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan, killing 173 people.
1975 – Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
1975 – The Cape Verde Islands, Mozambique, and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations.
1975 – The first prototype of the MiG-31 interceptor makes its maiden flight.
1976 – Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir.
1978 – An earthquake measuring 7.5 to 7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people.
1980 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations.
1982 – Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.
1987 – The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion.
1990 – The railroad between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan becomes complete at Dostyk, adding a sizable link to the concept of the Eurasian Land Bridge.
1991 – The trial of the deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega begins in the United States.
1992 – Black Wednesday: the Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark.
2005 – The Camorra organized crime boss Paolo Di Lauro gets arrested in Naples, Italy.
2007 – One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 carrying 128 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand killing 89 people.
2007 – Mercenaries working for Blackwater Worldwide allegedly shoot and kill 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad; all criminal charges against them are later dismissed, sparking outrage in the Arab world.

Births

16 – Drusilla, daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder (d. 38)
1386 – King Henry V of England, (d. 1422)
1507 – Jiajing, Emperor of China (d. 1567)
1557 – Jacques Mauduit, French composer (d. 1627)
1615 – Heinrich Bach, German organist, composer (d. 1692)
1651 – Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (d. 1716)
1666 – Antoine Parent, French mathematician (d. 1716)
1678 – Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English statesman and philosopher (d. 1751)
1716 – Angelo Maria Amorevoli, Italian Baroque tenor (d. 1798)
1722 – Gabriel Christie, British general (d. 1799)
1725 – Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist (d. 1815)
1745 – Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, Russian field marshal (d. 1813)
1777 – Nathan Mayer Rothschild, British financier (d. 1836)
1782 – Daoguang, Emperor of China (d. 1850)
1823 – Francis Parkman, American historian (d. 1893)
1827 – Jean Albert Gaudry, French geologist (d. 1908)
1830 – Patrick Francis Moran, Irish-Australian cardinal (d. 1911)
1837 – King Pedro V of Portugal (d. 1861)
1844 – Paul Taffanel, French flautist (d. 1908)
1846 – Anna Kingsford, English doctor (d. 1888)
1853 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1927)
1858 – Andrew Bonar Law, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1923)
1858 – Edward Marshall Hall, English barrister (d. 1927)
1859 – Yuan Shikai, Chinese politician (d. 1916)
1866 – Georg Voigt, German politician (d. 1927)
1870 – John Pius Boland, Irish politician and gold medalist tennis player (d. 1958)
1875 – James C. Penney, American department store founder (d. 1971)
1876 – Eduardo Camet, Argentine fencer (d. 1931)
1877 – Jacob Schick, American-Canadian electric razor inventor (d. 1937)
1880 – Alfred Noyes, English poet (d. 1958)
1881 – Clive Bell, English art critic (d. 1964)
1883 – T. E. Hulme, English writer (d. 1917)
1886 – Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor and painter (d. 1966)
1887 – Nadia Boulanger, French composer and teacher (d. 1979)
1888 – Frans Eemil Sillanpää, Finnish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
1891 – Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-born German spy (d. 1972)
1891 – Karl Dönitz, German naval leader (d. 1980)
1893 – Alexander Korda, Hungarian film director (d. 1956)
1893 – Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
1896 – Margaret Fitzgerald, Canadian supercentenarian (d. 2009)
1897 – Milt Franklyn, American musician (d. 1962)
1898 – H.A. Rey, American children's author (d. 1977)
1899 – Hans Swarowsky, Austrian conductor (d. 1975)
1903 – Joe Venuti, Italian-American jazz violinist (d. 1978)
1905 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (d. 1980)
1906 – Jack Churchill, English soldier (d. 1996)
1910 – Karl Kling, German race car driver (d. 2003)
1910 – Erich Kempka, Adolf Hitler's chauffeur (d. 1975)
1911 – Wilfred Burchett, Australian journalist (d. 1983)
1911 – Paul Henning, American producer and writer (d. 2005)
1914 – Allen Funt, American radio and television personality (d. 1999)
1915 – Cy Walter, American pianist (d. 1968)
1916 – Robert Bradshaw, Saint Kitts and Nevis politician (d. 1978)
1916 – M.S. Subbulakshmi, Indian singer (d. 2004)
1916 – Frank Leslie Walcott, Barbadian labour leader (d. 1999)
1918 – Wladyslaw Kedra, Polish pianist (d. 1968)
1919 – Laurence J. Peter, Canadian born educator and writer (d. 1990)
1919 – Andy Russell, American popular vocalist (d. 1992)
1920 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (The Born Loser) (d. 1991)
1921 – Jon Hendricks, American jazz singer
1921 – Korla Pandit, American musician and composer (d. 1998)
1922 – Guy Hamilton, English film director
1922 – Marcel Mouloudji, French actor and singer (d. 1994)
1922 – Janis Paige, American actress
1923 – Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister and former Minister Mentor of Singapore
1924 – Lauren Bacall, American actress
1925 – Charlie Byrd, American musician (d. 1999)
1925 – Charles Haughey, Prime Minister of Ireland (d. 2006)
1925 – B. B. King, American musician
1926 – Tommy Bond, American actor (d. 2005)
1926 – Eric Gross, Austrian-Australian composer (d. 2011)
1926 – Takao Tanabe, Canadian painter
1927 – Peter Falk, American actor (d. 2011)
1927 – Jack Kelly, American actor (d. 1992)
1928 – Lady Gwen Thompson, British occultist (d. 1986)
1930 – Anne Francis, American actress (d. 2011)
1931 – Little Willie Littlefield, American R&B pianist and singer
1934 – Elgin Baylor, American basketball player
1934 – George Chakiris, American actor
1934 – Ronnie Drew, Irish singer (d. 2008)
1934 – Dick Heckstall-Smith, English jazz and blues saxophonist (d. 2004)
1935 – Carl Andre, American artist
1935 – Billy Boy Arnold, American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter
1935 – Jules Bass, American author, producer, director and composer
1935 – Bob Kiley, American public transit specialist
1935 – Esther Vilar, German-Argentinian writer
1937 – Alexander Medved, Russian wrestler
1937 – Vince Naimoli, American former MLB team owner
1939 – Breyten Breytenbach, South African writer and painter
1940 – Hamiet Bluiett, American musician and composer
1941 – Richard Perle, American political advisor
1942 – Bernie Calvert, British musician (The Hollies)
1942 – Dennis Conner, American yachtsman
1942 – Tadamasa Goto, Japanese yakuza boss
1943 – James Alan McPherson, American writer
1944 – Winston Grennan, Jamaican American drummer
1945 – Pat Stevens, American actress and voice actress (d. 2010)
1946 – Cathee Dahmen, American fashion model (d. 1997)
1946 – Mike Reynolds, Australian politician
1946 – Camilo Sesto, Spanish singer
1947 – Russ Abbot, British comedian
1947 – Enrique Krauze, Mexican historian and writer
1948 – Ron Blair, American bassist
1948 – Rosemary Casals, American tennis player
1948 – Kenney Jones, English musician (The Small Faces; Faces; The Who)
1948 – Susan Ruttan, American actress
1949 – Ed Begley, Jr., American actor
1950 – David Bellamy, American guitarist and singer
1950 – Henry Louis Gates, American scholar
1950 – Loyd Grossman, American television presenter
1951 – Vince Bell, Texas singer and songwriter
1952 – Mickey Rourke, American actor
1953 – Alan Barton, English musician (Black Lace, Smokie) (d. 1995)
1953 – Kurt Fuller, American actor
1953 – Nancy Huston, Canadian-born novelist and essayist
1953 – Jerry Pate, American golfer
1953 – Eric Vail, Canadian ice hockey player
1954 – Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, Bengali Hindustani classical sitar player
1954 – Earl Klugh, American jazz guitarist
1954 – William McKeen, American author
1954 – Colin Newman, English musician (Wire)
1954 – Frank Reed, American singer (The Chi-Lites)
1955 – Ron Brewer, American basketball player
1955 – Janet Ellis, British television presenter
1955 – Yolandita Monge, Puerto Rican singer
1955 – Robin Yount, American baseball player
1956 – David Copperfield, American magician
1956 – Dave Schulthise, American musician (Dead Milkmen) (d. 2004)
1957 – David McCreery, Irish footballer
1957 – Anca Parghel, Romanian jazz singer
1958 – Orel Hershiser, American baseball player
1958 – Neville Southall, Welsh footballer
1958 – Jennifer Tilly, American actress
1958 – Maura O'Connell, Irish singer and actress
1959 – Peter Keleghan, Canadian actor
1959 – Tim Raines, American baseball player
1959 – Dave Richardson, South African cricketer
1959 – Victory Tischler-Blue, American musician, film and television producer
1960 – Jayne Brook, American actress
1960 – Kurt Busiek, American comic book writer
1960 – Ean Evans, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (d. 2009)
1960 – Graham Haynes, American musician and composer
1960 – Danny John-Jules, British actor
1960 – Yianna Katsoulos, French singer
1961 – Bilinda Butcher, British singer (My Bloody Valentine)
1961 – T La Rock, American old-school emcee
1962 – Seth (cartoonist), Canadian artist and writer
1963 – Richard Marx, American singer
1964 – Mary Coustas, Australian entertainer
1964 – Molly Shannon, American actress
1964 – Rossy de Palma, Spanish actress
1964 – Dave Sabo, American musician (Skid Row)
1965 – Katy Kurtzman, American actress
1965 – Karl-Heinz Riedle, German footballer
1966 – Kevin Young, American athlete
1967 – Hiroya Oku, Japanese manga artist
1968 – Marc Anthony, American singer
1968 – Walt Becker, American director and writer
1969 – Justine Frischmann, English musician (Elastica)
1969 – Janno Gibbs, Filipino singer
1969 – Emanuele Guidi, Sammarinese archer
1970 – Mark Schultz, American musician
1971 – Amy Poehler, American comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1972 – Mark Bruener, American football player
1972 – Sprent Dabwido, Nauruan politician
1972 – Shalane McCall, American actress
1972 – James Westman, Canadian operatic baritone
1972 – Erik Mana, Filipino-Canadian Magician and Mentalist
1973 – George Corrie, English footballer
1973 – Justin Haythe, American writer
1973 – Alexander Vinokourov, Kazakh cyclist
1974 – Monique Brumby, Australian Indie pop/rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer
1974 – Joaquín Castro, American lawyer and politician
1974 – Julian Castro, American lawyer and politician, Mayor of San Antonio
1975 – Gal Fridman, Israeli windsurfer
1975 – Shannon Noll, Australian singer and songwriter
1976 – Tina Barrett, British singer (S Club)
1976 – Greg Buckner, American basketball player
1977 – Greg Ball, American politician
1978 – Dan Dickau, American basketball player
1978 – Claudia Marx, German athlete
1978 – Matthew Rogers, American singer
1979 – Aileen Celeste, Venezuelan actress
1979 – Bobby Korecky, American baseball player
1979 – Fanny, French singer
1980 – Patrik Štefan, Czech ice hockey player
1981 – Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress
1981 – Alexis Bledel, American actress
1981 – LaVerne Jones-Ferrette, Virgin Islander sprinter
1982 – Leon Knight, English footballer
1982 – Michele Rizzo, Italian rugby player
1982 – Fiete Sykora, German footballer
1982 – Ryan Thomson, Scottish footballer
1983 – John Afoa, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwean swimmer
1983 – Brandon Moss, American baseball player
1983 – Legedu Naanee, American football player
1984 – Sabrina Bryan, American actress and singer (The Cheetah Girls)
1984 – Katie Melua, Georgian/British singer
1984 – Serginho, Brazilian footballer
1985 – Madeline Zima, American actress
1986 – Gordon Beckham, American baseball player
1986 – Ian Harding, American actor
1986 – Kyla Pratt, American actress
1987 – Daren Kagasoff, American actor
1987 – Kyle Lafferty, Northern Irish footballer
1987 – Louis Clément Ngwat-Mahop, Cameroonian football player
1987 – Travis Wall, American dancer and dance instructor
1988 – Teddy Geiger, American singer
1988 – Sarah Steele, American actress
1989 – Braden Holtby, Canadian ice hockey player
1989 – Dustin Tokarski, Canadian ice hockey player
1989 – José Salomón Rondón, Venezuelan footballer
1991 – Alexandra Paul (figure skater), Canadian figure skater
1992 – Nick Jonas, American singer and musician (Jonas Brothers)
1992 – Jake Roche, English actor
2005 – Princess Jalilah bint Ali of Jordan

Deaths

307 – Severus II, Roman Emperor
827 – Pope Valentine
1087 – Pope Victor III (b. 1026)
1100 – Bernold of Constance, German chronicler (b. 1054)
1345 – John IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1295)
1380 – King Charles V of France (b. 1338)
1394 – Avignon Pope Clement VII (b. 1342)
1406 – Cyprian, Metropolitan of Moscow (b. 1336)
1498 – Tomás de Torquemada, first grand inquisitor of Spain (b. 1420)
1589 – Michael Baius, Flemish theologian (b. 1513)
1672 – Anne Bradstreet, American colonial poet (b. 1612)
1701 – James II of England and VII of Scotland (b. 1633)
1736 – Gabriel Fahrenheit, German physicist (b. 1686)
1775 – Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, English privy councillor (b. 1684)
1782 – Farinelli, Italian castrato singer (b. 1705)
1792 – Quang Trung, Tay Son dynasty's emperor of Viet Nam (b. 1753)
1803 – Nicolas Baudin, French explorer (b. 1754)
1819 – John Jeffries, American physician, balloonist, pioneer meteorologist (b. 1744)
1824 – King Louis XVIII of France (b. 1755)
1843 – Ezekiel Hart, Canadian entrepreneur and politician, and the first Jew to be elected to public office in the British Empire (b. 1770)
1865 – Christian Julius De Meza, Danish general (b. 1792)
1887 – Sakaigawa Namiemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 14th Yokozuna (b. 1841)
1896 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian composer (b. 1836)
1898 – Ramón Emeterio Betances, Puerto Rican politician, medical doctor and diplomat (b. 1827)
1911 – Edward Whymper, English mountain climber (b. 1840)
1925 – Leo Fall, Austrian operetta composer (b. 1873)
1925 – Alexander Alexandrovich Friedman, Russian physicist (b. 1888)
1932 – Ronald Ross, English physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1857)
1933 – George Gore, American baseball player (b. 1857)
1936 – Jean-Baptiste Charcot, French scientist and medical doctor (b. 1867)
1940 – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, Governor of Queensland, Governor of Bombay (b. 1860)
1944 – Gustav Bauer, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1870)
1945 – John McCormack, Irish tenor (b. 1884)
1946 – Sir James Hopwood Jeans, English physicist and astronomer (b. 1877)
1950 – Pedro de Cordoba, American actor (b. 1881)
1955 – L.S. Amery, British politician (b. 1873)
1957 – Qi Baishi, Chinese painter (b. 1864)
1965 – Ahn Eak-tai, Korean musician, composer, and conductor (b. 1906)
1965 – Fred Quimby, American cartoon producer (b. 1886)
1973 – Víctor Jara, Chilean musician (b. 1932)
1975 – Irene Hayes, Ziegfeld girl and businesswoman (b. 1896)
1977 – Marc Bolan, English musician (b. 1947)
1977 – Maria Callas, Greek-American soprano (b. 1923)
1978 – Lavrentis Dianellos, Greek actor (b. 1911)
1980 – Jean Piaget, Swiss psychologist (b. 1896)
1984 – Louis Réard, French designer of the bikini (b. 1897)
1987 – Howard Moss, American poet, dramatist, and critic (b. 1922)
1987 – Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, British politician (b. 1920)
1991 – Olga Spessivtseva, Russian ballerina (b. 1895)
1991 – Carol White, British actress (b. 1943)
1992 – Millicent Fenwick, American politician and writer (b. 1910)
1993 – František Jílek, Czech conductor (b. 1913)
1993 – Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Australian poet, aboriginal activist (b. 1920)
1993 – Rok Petrovic, Slovenian skier (b. 1966)
1996 – McGeorge Bundy, U.S. National Security Advisor (b. 1919)
1996 – Gene Nelson, American actor (b. 1920)
2000 – Georgiy Gongadze, Ukrainian journalist (b. 1969)
2001 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer (b. 1918)
2002 – James Gregory, American actor (b. 1911)
2003 – Sheb Wooley, singer and actor (b. 1921)
2004 – Michael Donaghy Poet, (b. 1954)
2005 – Harry Freedman, Canadian composer and music educator (b. 1922)
2005 – Gordon Gould, inventor of the laser (b. 1920)
2006 – Floyd Curry, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
2006 – Rob Levin, creator of Freenode (b. 1955)
2007 – Robert Jordan, author of the Wheel of Time series (b. 1948)
2008 – Norman Whitfield, associated with the Temptations (b. 1940)
2009 – Myles Brand, NCAA President (b. 1942)
2009 – Ernst Märzendorfer, Austrian conductor (b. 1921)
2009 – Mary Travers, American singer (Peter, Paul, and Mary) (b. 1936)
2010 – George N. Parks, director of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band (b. 1953)
2010 – Jim Towers, English footballer (b. 1933)
2010 – Richard Livsey, Welsh Liberal Democrat politician (b.1935)