today.nukz.net: Almanac September 9

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (known in the Anglosphere as Leo Tolstoy) (September 9, 1828 – November 20, 1910) was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist fiction. Many consider Tolstoy to have been one of the world's greatest novelists. Tolstoy is equally known for his complicated and paradoxical persona and for his extreme moralistic and ascetic views, which he adopted after a moral crisis and spiritual awakening in the 1870s, after which he also became noted as a moral thinker and social reformer.

Events

475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy.
663 – Silla–Tang armies crush the Baekje restoration attempt and force Yamato Japan to withdraw from Korea in the Battle of Baekgang.
1189 – Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan
1521 – The Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade.
1524 – The Kaqchikel Maya rebel against their former Spanish allies during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
1542 – Turkish-Portuguese War (1538-1557) – Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leader Christovão da Gama is captured and later executed.
1565 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sights land near St. Augustine, Florida and founds the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay.
1619 – Ferdinand II is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
1640 – Second Bishop's War: King Charles I's English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn.
1709 – Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur.
1789 – William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn: Enceladus.
1810 – Battle of Grand Port – the French accept the surrender of a British Navy fleet.
1830 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's new Tom Thumb steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam's role in US railroading.
1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 receives Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most the British Empire.
1845 – The first issue of Scientific American magazine is published.
1849 – After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria.
1859 – A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far away as Japan.
1862 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas.
1867 – The United States takes possession of the, at this point unoccupied, Midway Atoll.
1879 – Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British.
1898 – Caleb Bradham invents the carbonated soft drink that will later be called "Pepsi-Cola".
1901 – Silliman University is founded in the Philippines. The first American private school in the country.
1909 – A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms.
1913 – Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague.
1914 – World War I: the Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.
1914 – World War I: German troops conquer Namur.
1916 – World War I: Germany declares war on Romania.
1916 – World War I: Italy declares war on Germany.
1917 – Ten Suffragettes are arrested while picketing the White House.
1924 – The Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union.
1931 – France and Soviet Union sign a treaty of non-aggression.
1937 – Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
1943 – World War II: in Denmark, a general strike against the Nazi occupation is started.
1944 – World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.
1953 – Nippon Television broadcasts Japan's first television show, including its first TV advertisement.
1955 – Black teenager Emmett Till is murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.
1957 – U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond begins a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator.
1963 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech
1963 – Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan flat, prompting the events that would lead to the passing of the Miranda Rights.
1964 – The Philadelphia race riot begins.
1968 – Riots in Chicago, Illinois, during the Democratic National Convention.
1979 – An IRA bomb explodes on the Grand Place in Brussels.
1988 – Ramstein airshow disaster: three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. 75 are killed and 346 seriously injured.
1990 – Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
1990 – The Plainfield Tornado: an F5 tornado hits in Plainfield, Illinois, and Joliet, Illinois, killing 28 people.
1991 – Ukraine declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
1991 – Collapse of the Soviet Union – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
1996 – Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce.
1998 – Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Qur'an and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill is defeated in the Senate.
2003 – An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.

Births

1025 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (d. 1068)
1582 – Taichang Emperor, of the Ming Dynasty of China (d. 1620)
1592 – George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1628)
1612 – Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Dutch scholar (d. 1653)
1667 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1721)
1691 – Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empire Empress (d. 1750)
1714 – Anthony Ulrich II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1774)
1728 – John Stark, American revolutionary war general (d. 1822)
1739 – Agostino Accorimboni, Italian composer (d. 1818)
1749 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and scientist (d. 1832)
1774 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American-born Catholic saint (d. 1821)
1789 – Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden (d. 1860)
1801 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (d. 1877)
1814 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (d. 1873)
1827 – Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1894)
1828 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian author (birthdate according to O.S.) (d. 1910)
1840 – Alexander Cameron Sim, Scottish merchant (d. 1900)
1853 – Vladimir Shukhov, Russian engineer and inventor (d. 1939)
1859 – Matilda Howell, American archer (d. 1938)
1859 – Vittorio Sella, Italian photographer (d. 1943)
1867 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer (d. 1948)
1878 – George Whipple, American doctor and Nobel laureate (d. 1976)
1884 – Peter Fraser, former Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1950)
1885 – Vance Palmer, Australian author (d. 1959)
1887 – István Kühár, Slovene (Prekmurian) writer and politician (d. 1922)
1894 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (d. 1981)
1898 – Charlie Grimm, American baseball player (d. 1983)
1899 – Charles Boyer, French actor (d. 1978)
1899 – Andrei Platonov, Russian writer (d. 1951)
1903 – Bruno Bettelheim, American psychologist (d. 1990)
1904 – Secondo Campini, Italian jet engine pioneer (d. 1980)
1905 – Cyril Walters, England cricketer (d. 1992)
1906 – John Betjeman, English poet (d. 1984)
1908 – Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist (d. 1996)
1910 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-born economist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
1911 – Joseph Luns, Dutch politician (d. 2002)
1913 – Robertson Davies, Canadian writer (d. 1995)
1913 – Jack Dreyfus, American entrepreneur (d. 2009)
1913 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer (d. 1993)
1913 – Robert Irving, British conductor (d. 1991)
1913 – Boris Pahor, Slovenian writer
1913 – Terence Reese, British bridge player (d. 1996)
1913 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (d. 1975)
1915 – Max Robertson, British sports commentator (d. 2009)
1915 – Tasha Tudor, American illustrator (d. 2008)
1916 – Hélène Baillargeon, Quebec singer and folklorist (d. 1997)
1916 – C. Wright Mills American sociologist (d. 1962)
1916 – Jack Vance, American author
1917 – Jack Kirby, American comic book artist (d. 1994)
1919 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer Nobel Laureate (d. 2004)
1921 – Fernando Fernán Gómez, Spanish actor, director, academic and playwright (d. 2007)
1921 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (d. 1991)
1924 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author (d. 2004)
1924 – Peggy Ryan, American actress (d. 2004)
1924 – Tony MacGibbon, New Zealand cricketer
1925 – Donald O'Connor, American singer, dancer, and actor (d. 2003)
1925 – Billy Grammer, American country music singer and guitarist (d. 2011)
1928 – F. William Free, American advertising executive (d. 2003)
1928 – Vilayat Khan, Indian sitar master (d. 2004)
1929 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor (d. 1973)
1929 – Ken Gampu, South African actor (d. 2003)
1930 – Windsor Davies, British actor
1930 – Ben Gazzara, American actor (d. 2012)
1931 – John Shirley-Quirk, English bass-baritone
1931 – Tito Capobianco, Argentinian stage impresario and director
1932 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player
1935 – Gilles Rocheleau, French Canadian politician (d. 1998)
1936 – Don Denkinger, American baseball umpire
1938 – Paul Martin, Canadian politician
1938 – Maurizio Costanzo, Italian television journalist
1940 – William Cohen, American politician and author
1940 – Ken Jenkins, American actor
1940 – Roger Pingeon, French cyclist
1940 – Nik Turner, English musician (Hawkwind)
1941 – Sybille de Selys Longchamps, Belgian aristocrat
1941 – Paul Plishka, American opera singer
1942 – Sterling Morrison, American guitarist (The Velvet Underground) (d. 1995)
1943 – David Soul, American actor
1943 – Lou Piniella, American baseball manager
1943 – Surayud Chulanont, Thai 24th Prime Minister (former)
1944 – Marianne Heemskerk, Dutch swimmer
1945 – Robert Greenwald, American film director/producer
1945 – Bob Segarini, American musician
1944 – Melvin Dummar, American claimant to the Howard Hughes estate
1947 – Liza Wang, Hong Kong actress
1948 – Vonda McIntyre, American science fiction author
1948 – Murray Parker, New Zealand cricketer
1948 – Heather Reisman, Canadian businesswoman
1948 – Danny Seraphine, American musician (Chicago)
1949 – Hugh Cornwell, British musician (The Stranglers)
1949 – Svetislav Pešic, Serbian basketball player and coach
1950 – Ron Guidry, American baseball player and coach
1951 – Keiichi Suzuki, Japanese composer
1951 – Wayne Osmond, American singer (The Osmonds)
1952 – Jacques Chagnon, Canadian politician
1952 – Rita Dove, American poet
1952 – Guy Nadon, Canadian actor
1952 – Wendelin Wiedeking, German businessman
1953 – Ditmar Jakobs, German footballer
1954 – George Church, American geneticist
1956 – Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
1956 – Mark Lutz, Puerto Rican actor
1957 – Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia
1957 – Daniel Stern, American actor
1957 – Rick Rossovich, American actor
1958 – Scott Hamilton, American figure skater
1958 – Whip Hubley, American actor
1959 – Brian Thompson, American actor
1960 – Emma Samms, English actress
1960 – Dinah Cancer, American singer 45 Grave
1961 – Kim Appleby, English singer
1961 – Ian Pont, English cricketer
1961 – Cliff Benson, American football player
1962 – Paul Allen, English footballer
1962 – Craig Anton, American actor and comedian
1962 – David Fincher, American music video and film director
1963 – Jennifer Coolidge, American actress
1963 – Regina Jacobs, American athlete
1964 – Kaj Leo Johannesen, Faroese footballer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1965 – Satoshi Tajiri, founder of Game Freak
1965 – Amanda Tapping, Canadian actress, director and producer
1965 – Shania Twain, Canadian singer
1966 – Priya Dutt, Indian social worker and politician
1967 – Dominic Lucero, American dancer, actor, and singer (d. 1994)
1968 – Billy Boyd, Scottish actor
1969 – Jason Priestley, Canadian-born actor
1969 – Jack Black, American actor
1969 – Mary McCartney, English photographer
1969 – Pierre Turgeon, French Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Sherrié Austin, Australian actress/singer
1970 – Rick Recht, Jewish singer
1971 – Todd Eldredge, American figure skater
1971 – Janet Evans, American swimmer
1971 – Raul Marquez, Mexican-born American boxer
1971 – Shane Andrews, American baseball player
1972 – Jay Witasick, American baseball player
1972 – Ravindu Shah, Kenyan cricketer
1973 – Matthew John Armstrong, American actor
1973 – DJ Assault, American musician
1973 – Kirby Morrow, Canadian voice actor
1974 – Johan Andersson, Swedish game programmer
1974 – Carsten Jancker, German footballer
1974 – Takahito Eguchi, Japanese composer
1974 – Kaori Mizuhashi, Japanese voice actress
1975 – Jamie Cureton, English footballer
1975 – Gareth Farrelly, Irish footballer
1975 – Vera Jordanova, Finnish actress and model
1976 – Federico Magallanes, Uruguayan footballer
1978 – Jess Margera, American drummer (CKY)
1979 – Robert Hoyzer, German football referee
1979 – Shaila Durcal, Spanish singer
1979 – Kristen Hughes, Australian netballer
1979 – Markus Pröll, German footballer
1979 – Ruth Riley, American basketball player
1980 – Debra Lafave, American former teacher and convicted sex offender
1980 – Carly Pope, Canadian actress
1981 – Matt Alrich, American lacrosse player
1981 – Martin Erat, Czech hockey player
1981 – Daniel Gygax, Swiss footballer
1981 – Agata Wróbel, Polish weightlifter
1981 – Raphael Matos, Brazilian racing driver
1982 – Anderson Silva de França, Brazilian footballer
1982 – LeAnn Rimes, American singer
1982 – Kevin McNaughton, Scottish footballer
1982 – Thiago Motta, Brazilian-born Italian footballer
1983 – Lasith Malinga, Sri Lankan cricketer
1983 – Alfonso Herrera, Mexican actor and singer (RBD)
1983 – Ashley Hansen, Australian rules footballer
1983 – Luke McAlister, New Zealand All Black rugby player
1983 – Lilli Schwarzkopf, German heptathlete
1984 – Sarah Roemer, American actress and model
1985 – Ashlyne Huff, American singer
1986 – Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier
1986 – Jeff Green, American basketball player
1986 – Florence Welch, British singer (Florence + the Machine)
1986 – Mohombi, Swedish-Colognese singer
1989 – César Azpilicueta, Spanish footballer
1989 – Cassadee Pope, American Pop Musician (Hey Monday)
1989 – Jokwon, South Korean singer (2AM)
1990 – Bojan Krkic, Spanish footballer
1991 – Felicio Brown Forbes, German footballer
1991 – Kyle Massey, American actor and rapper
1991 – Andrej Pejic, Australian model
1999 – Prince Nikolai of Denmark, Danish royalty

Deaths

388 – Magnus Maximus, Roman usurper
430 – Augustine of Hippo, North African saint and theologian (b. 354)
476 – Orestes, Roman politician
1341 – King Leo V of Armenia (b. 1309)
1481 – King Afonso V of Portugal (b. 1432)
1645 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and writer (b. 1583)
1654 – Axel Oxenstierna, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (b. 1583)
1678 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier (b. 1602)
1757 – David Hartley, English philosopher (b. 1705)
1784 – Junípero Serra, Spanish missionary (b. 1713)
1785 – Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, French sculptor (b. 1714)
1793 – Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine, French general (executed) (b. 1740)
1805 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader (b. 1722)
1818 – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, founder of Chicago
1820 – Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (b. 1754)
1839 – William Smith, English geologist (b. 1769)
1900 – Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (b. 1838)
1903 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect (b. 1822)
1919 – Adolf Schmal, Austrian fencer and cyclist (b. 1872)
1928 – Karl Röderer, Swiss sports shooter (b. 1868)
1933 – Helen Dunbar, American actress (b. 1863)
1934 – Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer (b. 1858)
1943 – Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894)
1943 – George Underwood, American athlete (b. 1884)
1947 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (b. 1917)
1955 – Emmett Till, American civil rights movement icon (b. 1941)
1959 – Bohuslav Martinu, Czech composer (b. 1890)
1960 – Julius Frey, German swimmer (b. 1881)
1960 – Edward Hennig, American gymnast (b. 1879)
1965 – Giulio Racah, Israeli physicist (b. 1909)
1971 – Reuvein Margolies, Austrian-Hungarian-born Israeli author and Talmudic scholar (b. 1889)
1972 – Prince William of Gloucester of the British Royal Family (b. 1941)
1975 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (b. 1907)
1976 – Anissa Jones, American actress (b. 1958)
1978 – Robert Shaw, English actor and writer (b. 1927)
1981 – Béla Guttman, Hungarian footballer (b. 1900)
1982 – Geoff Chubb, South African cricketer (b. 1911)
1985 – Ruth Gordon, American actress (b. 1896)
1987 – John Huston, American movie director (b. 1906)
1988 – Jean Marchand, French Canadian union leader and politician (b. 1918)
1988 – Max Shulman, American comedic writer (b. 1919)
1990 – Willy Vandersteen, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1913)
1991 – Alekos Sakellarios, Greek writer and film director (b. 1913)
1993 – William Stafford, American poet (b. 1914)
1995 – Earl Bascom, American rodeo pioneer (b. 1906)
1997 – Masaru Takumi, Japanese yakuza lord (b. 1936)
2003 – Brian Douglas Wells, American criminal (failed) (b. 1956)
2005 – Jacques Dufilho, French actor (b. 1914)
2005 – Esther Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1910)
2005 – George Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1911)
2006 – Benoît Sauvageau, French Canadian politician (b. 1963)
2006 – Melvin Schwartz, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1932)
2007 – Arthur Jones, American inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines (b. 1926)
2007 – Hilly Kristal, American musician (b. 1932)
2007 – Paul B. MacCready, Jr., American aeronautical engineer (b. 1925)
2007 – Antonio Puerta, Spanish footballer (b. 1984)
2007 – Francisco Umbral, Spanish journalist, novelist, biographer and essayist (b. 1935)
2007 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese-born American actress (b. 1929)
2007 – Nikola Nobilo, New Zealand winemaker (b. 1913)
2008 – Phil Hill, American race car driver and one-time F1 world champion (b. 1927)
2009 – Adam Goldstein, American DJ also known as DJ AM (b. 1973)
2009 – Wayne Tippit, American actor (b. 1932)
2010 – William P. Foster, American band director and educator (b. 1919)
2011 – Bernie Gallacher, British footballer (Aston Villa) (b. 1967)