today.nukz.net: Almanac September 17 :: William Carlos Williams

William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine with a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Williams "worked harder at being a writer than he did at being a physician" but excelled at both.

Events

456 – Remistus, Roman general (magister militum), is besieged with a Gothic force at Ravenna and later executed in the Palace in Classis, outside the city.
1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crown Alfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
1462 – The Battle of Swiecino (also known as the Battle of Zarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.
1577 – The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
1630 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
1631 – Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years War.
1683 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of protozoa.
1716 – Jean Thurel enlists in the Touraine Regiment at the age of 17, the first day of a military career that would span for over 90 years.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
1776 – The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
1778 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
1787 – The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1809 – Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
1814 – Francis Scott Key finishes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", later to be the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
1849 – American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
1859 – Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Emperor Norton I" of the United States.
1862 – American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American history.
1862 – American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
1894 – The Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
1900 – Philippine-American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
1908 – The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
1914 – Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
1916 – World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
1920 – The American Professional Football Association (later renamed National Football League) is organized in Canton, Ohio, United States.
1924 – The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armed Soviet raids and local bandits.
1928 – The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards of 2,500 people. It is the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
1939 – World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
1939 – World War II: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
1939 – Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
1940 – World War II: Following the German defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion indefinitely.
1941 – World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued
1943 – World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Nazis.
1944 – World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden.
1948 – The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the UN to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.
1948 – The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.
1949 – The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
1957 – Malaysia joins the United Nations.
1961 – The world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh.
1974 – Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
1976 – The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
1978 – The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
1980 – After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
1980 – Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
1983 – Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
1991 – Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
1991 – The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
1992 – An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.
1993 – Last Russian troops leave Poland.
2001 – The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 Attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
2006 – Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.
2006 – An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.
2007 – AOL, once the largest ISP in the U.S., officially announces plans to refocus the company as an advertising business and to relocate its corporate headquarters from Dulles, Virginia to New York, New York.
2011 – Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zucotti Park, New York City.

Births

879 – King Charles III of France (d. 929)
1192 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
1550 – Pope Paul V (d. 1621)
1605 – Francesco Sacrati, Italian composer (d. 1650)
1630 – Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma (d. 1694)
1639 – Hans Herr, Mennonite bishop (d. 1725)
1674 – Ernest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany (d. 1728)
1677 – Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (d. 1761)
1687 – Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (d. 1772)
1688 – Maria Luisa of Savoy, first queen of Philip V of Spain (d. 1714)
1730 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian army officer (d. 1794)
1739 – John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed) Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1800)
1743 – Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician (d. 1794)
1771 – Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (d. 1816)
1773 – Jonathan Alder, American settler (d. 1849)
1819 – Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, first President of the South African Republic (d. 1901)
1820 – Émile Augier, French dramatist (d. 1889)
1826 – Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (d. 1866)
1839 – Ira Davenport, American magician (d. 1911)
1850 – Guerra Junqueiro, Portuguese lawyer, journalist, author, and poet (d. 1923)
1854 – David Dunbar Buick, American automobile pioneer (d. 1929)
1857 – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian rocket scientist (d. 1935)
1859 – Frank Dawson Adams, Canadian geologist (d.1942)
1862 – Jean de Madre, British polo player (d. 1934)
1868 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (d. 1956)
1869 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize recipient (d. 1938)
1874 – Sir Walter Murdoch, Australian academic and essayist (d. 1970)
1878 – Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (d. 1950)
1878 – Antoine Védrenne, French rower (d. 1937)
1879 – Rube Foster, American baseball player, manager and executive (d. 1930)
1879 – Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social Reformer (d. 1973)
1881 – Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter, English soldier (d. 1955)
1883 – William Carlos Williams, American writer (d. 1963)
1884 – Charles Tomlinson Griffes, American composer (d. 1920)
1890 – Gabriel Heatter, American radio commentator (d. 1972)
1892 – Hendrik Andriessen, Dutch composer and organist (d. 1981)
1897 – Earl Webb, baseball player (d. 1965)
1900 – John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d. 1985)
1900 – Hughie Critz, baseball player (d. 1980)
1901 – Francis Chichester, English adventurer (d. 1972)
1902 – Bea Miles, Australian eccentric and writer (d. 1973)
1903 – Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (d. 1984)
1903 – Frank O'Connor, Irish-American short-story writer (d. 1966)
1903 – Minanogawa Tozo, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
1904 – Sir Frederick Ashton, British dancer and choreographer (d. 1988)
1904 – Jerry Colonna, American comedian and entertainer (d. 1986)
1904 – Edgar G. Ulmer, Austrian-American film director (d. 1972)
1906 – J.R. Jayewardene, Sri Lankan politician and statesman (d. 1996)
1906 – Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist (d. 2010)
1907 – Warren Burger, 15th Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1995)
1908 – John Creasey, English crime and science fiction novelist (d. 1973)
1912 – Irena Kwiatkowska, Polish actress and comedian (d. 2011)
1914 – Thomas J. Bata, Canadian shoemaker (Bata Shoes) (d. 2008)
1914 – Shin Kanemaru, Japanese politician (d. 1996)
1915 – M. F. Husain, Indian painter (d. 2011)
1916 – Mary Stewart, English novelist
1917 – Isang Yun, Korean composer who spent most of his creative career in Germany
1918 – Chaim Herzog, President of Israel (d. 1997)
1920 – Dinah Sheridan, English actress
1922 – Agostinho Neto, Angolan politician (d. 1979)
1923 – Hank Williams, American musician (d. 1953)
1923 – Ralph Sharon, American jazz pianist
1925 – John List, American murderer (d. 2008)
1926 – Bill Black, American musician (d. 1965)
1926 – Curtis Harrington, American film director (d. 2007)
1926 – Jack McDuff, American jazz organist (d. 2001)
1926 – Hovie Lister, American gospel pianist (d. 2001)
1926 – Jean-Marie Lustiger, French Jewish Roman Catholic Cardinal (d. 2007)
1927 – George Blanda, American football player (d. 2010)
1928 – Roddy McDowall, English actor (d. 1998)
1929 – Sir Stirling Moss, English race car driver
1929 – Pat Crowley, American actress
1929 – Sil Austin, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2001)
1930 – David Huddleston, American actor
1930 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist
1930 – Theo Loevendie, Dutch composer and clarinet player
1930 – Edgar Mitchell, American astronaut
1930 – Jim Rohn, American business philosopher (d. 2009)
1930 – Thomas Stafford, American astronaut
1931 – Anne Bancroft, American actress (d. 2005)
1931 – Jean-Claude Carrière, French writer, screenwriter and actor
1933 – Chuck Grassley, American politician
1933 – Dorothy Loudon, American actress (d. 2003)
1933 – Claude Provost, National Hockey League player (d. 1984)
1934 – Maureen Connolly, American tennis player (d. 1969)
1935 – Ken Kesey, American author (d. 2001)
1936 – Michael Hennagin, American composer and university professor
1937 – Orlando Cepeda, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
1938 – Bobby Wine, American Major League Baseball player
1938 – Perry Robinson, American jazz clarinetist and composer
1939 – Shelby Flint, American singer
1939 – David Souter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1940 – Jan Eliasson, Swedish diplomat
1940 – Sotiris Moustakas, Greek actor (d. 2007)
1941 – Stavros Damianides, Greek musician (d. 2001)
1941 – Bob Matsui, U.S. Congressman (d. 2005)
1942 – Des Lynam, English television presenter
1942 – Lupe Ontiveros, American actress (d. 2012)
1942 – Robert Graysmith, Zodiac killer researcher
1944 – Reinhold Messner, Italian mountaineer
1944 – Les Emmerson, Canadian vocalist and guitarist
1945 – David Emerson, Canadian politician
1945 – Bhakti Caru Swami, Indian spiritual leader
1945 – Phil Jackson, American basketball player and NBA head coach
1945 – Bruce Spence, New Zealand actor
1946 – Billy Bonds, English footballer
1947 – Tessa Jowell, British politician
1948 – Karl Alber, German footballer
1948 – Raphy Leavitt, Puerto Rican composer and salsa orchestra leader
1948 – Jeff MacNelly, American political cartoonist (d. 2000)
1948 – John Ritter, American actor (d. 2003)
1950 – Narendra Modi, Indian politician
1950 – Chris Heister, Swedish politician
1950 – Fee Waybill, American musician (The Tubes)
1951 – Piet Kleine, Dutch speed skater
1951 – Cassandra Peterson, American actress
1953 – Altaf Hussain, Pakistani politician and founder of MQM
1953 – Steve Williams (rock drummer), drummer for Welsh rock band Budgie
1954 – Joël-François Durand, French composer
1955 – Koralia Karanti, Greek actress
1955 – Charles Martinet, American actor
1955 – Scott Simpson, American golfer
1956 – Brian Andreas, American writer, sculptor, painter and publisher
1956 – Thad Bosley. American major league baseball player
1956 – Rita Rudner, American comedian
1956 – Mandawuy Yunupingu, Aboriginal Australian musician
1958 – Tom Waddell, Scottish former Major League Baseball player
1959 – Charles Lawson, Northern Irish actor
1960 – Damon Hill, English race car driver and 1996 F1 world champion
1960 – Kevin Clash, American actor and puppeteer
1960 – John Franco, American baseball player
1960 – John Bottomley, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 2011)
1961 – Jim Cornette, American professional wrestling manager
1961 – Nives Meroi, Italian mountaineer
1961 – Ty Tabor, American guitarist and singer (King's X)
1962 – Baz Luhrmann, Australian film director
1962 – Dustin Nguyen, Vietnamese American actor
1962 – BeBe Winans, gospel and R&B singer
1963 – Masahiro Chono, Japanese professional wrestler
1963 – Steven Dye, English musician (Scarlet Party), (The Alan Parsons Project)
1963 – Wendy Northcutt, Author of the Darwin Awards
1963 – Amy Roloff, American reality star
1963 – Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator
1963 – James Urbaniak, American actor
1963 – William Shockley (actor), American actor
1965 – Yuji Naka, Japanese video game programmer
1965 – Guy Picciotto, American musician (Rites of Spring, Fugazi)
1965 – Bryan Singer, American director
1965 – Kyle Chandler, American actor
1966 – Doug E. Fresh, American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer
1966 – Stéphane Rousseau, Canadian humorist and actor
1967 – Malik Yoba, American actor
1967 – Koen Wauters, Flemish singer, television presenter, and actor
1968 – Anastacia, American singer
1968 – Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of Greece
1968 – Lord Jamar American emcee and actor
1968 – Jonn Penney lead singer of Ned's Atomic Dustbin
1968 – Akhenaton French rapper and producer
1969 – Ken Doherty, Irish snooker player
1969 – Keith Flint, British musician (The Prodigy)
1969 – Matthew Settle, American actor
1969 – Steady B, American rapper and emcee
1969 – Adam Devlin, English guitarist and songwriter
1970 – Mark Brunell, American football player
1970 – Jim Conroy, American voice actor (Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman)
1971 – Nate Berkus, American television host
1971 – Mike Catt, English rugby player
1971 – Mauro Milanese, Italian footballer
1971 – Adriana Sklenaríková, Slovak supermodel
1971 – Ian Whyte (actor), Welsh actor and basketball player
1972 – Brian Henry, American poet
1972 – Bobby Lee, American comedian
1973 – Ada Choi, Hong Kong actress
1973 – Demis Nikolaidis, Greek footballer
1973 – Diego Albanese, Argentinian rugbier, Puma and journalist for Espn.
1974 – Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
1974 – Mirah, American musician
1974 – Tormod Granheim, Norwegian adventurer
1975 – Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
1975 – Austin St. John, American actor
1975 – Jade Esteban Estrada, Latin pop singer, comedian and activist
1975 – Constantine Maroulis, American singer
1975 – Wilko de Vogt, Dutch football goalkeeper
1976 – Daniella Rush, Czech pornographic actress
1976 – Peja (musician), Polish rap musician, songwriter and producer
1977 – Simone Perrotta, Italian football player
1978 – Shawn Horcoff, Canadian ice hockey player
1979 – Akin Ayodele, American football player
1979 – Billy Miller, American actor
1979 – Chuck Comeau, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
1979 – Steffen Algreen, Danish footballer
1980 – Danny Haren, American baseball player
1980 – Oliver Risser, Namibian footballer
1981 – Casey Janssen, American baseball player
1981 – Bakari Koné, Ivorian footballer
1981 – Francis Manioru, Solomon Islander sprinter
1982 – Hope Larson, American illustrator and cartoonist
1982 – Garth Murray, Canadian ice hockey player
1982 – Wade Robson, Australian choreographer
1983 – Jennifer Peña, American singer
1984 – Domenico Citro, Italian footballer
1984 – Mary Descenza, American swimmer
1984 – John Kucera, Canadian alpine ski racer
1984 – Patrick van Luijk, Dutch sprinter
1984 – Eugenia Volodina, Russian model
1984 – De La Ghetto, Puerto Rican reggaeton singer
1985 – Tomáš Berdych, Czech tennis player
1985 – Brendan Clarke, Irish footballer
1985 – Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
1985 – Mason Raymond, Canadian hockey player
1985 – José Gonçalves, Portuguese football player
1985 – Jon Walker, American musician (Panic! at the Disco)
1986 – Paolo De Ceglie, Italian footballer
1986 – Sanaya Irani, Indian actress
1987 – Paul Huntington, English footballer
1989 – Kate Deines, American soccer player
1990 – Sean Scannell, Irish footballer
1991 – Ryo Ishikawa, Japanese golfer

Deaths

454 – Dioscorus the Great, patriarch of Alexandria
456 – Remistus, Roman general of Visigothic origin
1179 – Hildegard of Bingen, German abbess and composer (b. 1098)
1322 – Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
1422 – Constantine II of Bulgaria
1563 – Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, English soldier (b. 1526)
1574 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, first Spanish Governor of Florida (b. 1519)
1575 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss religious reformer (b. 1504)
1621 – Robert Bellarmine, Italian saint (b. 1542)
1630 – Thomas Lake, English statesman (b. 1567)
1665 – Philip IV of Spain (b. 1605)
1676 – Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi, kabbalist, and founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement (b. 1626)
1679 – John of Austria the Younger, Spanish general (b. 1629)
1727 – Glückel of Hameln, German businesswoman (b. 1647)
1762 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist (b. 1687)
1771 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish novelist (b. 1721)
1803 – Franz Xaver Süssmayr, Austrian composer (b. 1766)
1808 – Benjamin Bourne, American politician (b. 1755)
1836 – Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (b. 1748)
1858 – Dred Scott, American slave who unsuccessfully sued for citizenship (b. 1795)
1863 – Alfred de Vigny, French author (b. 1797)
1864 – Walter Savage Landor, English writer (b. 1775)
1873 – Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer (b. 1781)
1877 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photography pioneer (b. 1800)
1878 – Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, French adventurer in Araucania and Patagonia (b. 1825)
1879 – Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, French architect (b. 1814)
1894 – Deng Shichang, Chinese admiral (b. 1849)
1899 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American industrialist (b. 1842)
1904 – Raden Ayu Kartini, Indonesian national heroine (b. 1879)
1907 – Ignaz Brüll, Austrian pianist (b. 1846)
1908 – Henri Julien, Canadian cartoonist (b. 1852)
1908 – Thomas Selfridge, First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army (b. 1882)
1909 – Sir Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria (b. 1838)
1923 – Stephanos Dragoumis, Greek judge, writer and Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1842)
1925 – Carl Eytel, German-American artist working in Palm Springs, California (b. 1862)
1933 – Joseph De Piro, Maltese missionary (b. 1877)
1936 – Ettie Annie Rout, New Zealand activist (b. 1877)
1938 – Bruno Jasienski, Polish poet (b. 1901)
1946 – Frank Burke, American baseball player (b. 1880)
1948 – Ruth Benedict, American anthropologist (b. 1887)
1948 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (b. 1895)
1953 – David Munson, American athlete (b. 1884)
1965 – Alejandro Casona, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1903)
1951 – Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b. 1898)
1966 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
1971 – Carlos Lamarca, Brazilian military turned guerrilla leader (b. 1937)
1972 – Akim Tamiroff, Georgian actor (b. 1899)
1973 – Hugo Winterhalter, American bandleader (b. 1909)
1980 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle, President of Nicaragua (b. 1925)
1982 – Manos Loïzos, Greek composer (b. 1937)
1984 – Richard Basehart, American actor (b. 1914)
1985 – Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
1987 – Harry Locke, British character actor (b. 1913)
1988 – Hilde Gueden, Austrian soprano (b. 1917)
1991 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
1992 – Roger Wagner, American choral conductor (b. 1914)
1993 – Christian Nyby, American film and television director (b. 1913)
1994 – Karl Popper, Austrian philosopher (b. 1902)
1994 – Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player (b. 1954)
1995 – Lucien Victor, Belgian cyclist (b. 1931)
1996 – Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States (b. 1918)
1997 – Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (b. 1913)
1998 – Ted Binion, Las Vegas casino heir (b. 1943)
1998 – Geoffrey Dutton, Australian author and historian (b. 1922)
1998 – Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (b. 1907)
1999 – Frankie Vaughan, British singer (b. 1928)
2000 – Paula Yates, British TV personality (b. 1959)
2003 – Erich Hallhuber, German actor (b. 1951)
2005 – Jacques Lacarrière, French writer (b. 1925)
2005 – Alfred Reed, American composer (b. 1921)
2006 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite (b. 1924)
2009 – Noordin Mohammad Top, Malaysian Islamist terrorist (b. 1968)
2011 – Colin Madigan, Australian architect (b. 1921)