today.nukz.net: Almanac October 26

Mahalia Jackson ( October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice,[2] she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel". Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as "the single most powerful black woman in the United States". She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career, and her 45 rpm records included a dozen "golds"—million-sellers.

Events

306 – Martyrdom of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki
1341 – The Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347 formally begins with the proclamation of John VI Kantakouzenos as Byzantine Emperor at Didymoteicho.
1597 – Imjin War: Admiral Yi Sun-sin routs the Japanese Navy of 300 ships with only 13 ships at the Battle of Myeongnyang.
1640 – The Treaty of Ripon is signed, restoring peace between Scotland and Charles I of England.
1689 – General Piccolomini of Austria burned down Skopje to prevent the spread of cholera. He died of cholera himself soon after.
1774 – The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1775 – King George III of Great Britain goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution.
1776 – Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.
1795 – The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created.
1811 – The Argentine government declare the freedom of expression for the press by decree.
1813 – War of 1812: Canadians and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of Chateauguay.
1825 – The Erie Canal opens – passage from Albany, New York to Lake Erie.
1859 – The Royal Charter is wrecked on the coast of Anglesey, north Wales with 459 dead.
1860 – Meeting of Teano. Giuseppe Garibaldi, conqueror of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, gives it to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.
1861 – The Pony Express officially ceases operations.
1881 – The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona.
1905 – Norway becomes independent from Sweden.
1909 – Ito Hirobumi, Resident-General of Korea, was shot to death by Korean independence supporter Ahn Jung-geun at the Harbin train station in Manchuria.
1912 – First Balkan War: The Ottoman occupied city of Thessaloniki, is liberated and unified with Greece on the feast day of its patron Saint Demetrius. On the same day, Serbian troops captured Skopje.
1917 – World War I: Battle of Caporetto; Italy suffers a catastrophic defeat at the forces of Austria-Hungary and Germany. The young unknown Oberleutnant Erwin Rommel captures Mount Matajur with only 100 Germans against a force of over 7000 Italians.
1917 – World War I: Brazil declared in state of war with Central Powers.
1918 – Erich Ludendorff, quartermaster-general of the Imperial German Army, is dismissed by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany for refusing to cooperate in peace negotiations.
1921 – The Chicago Theatre opens.
1936 – The first electric generator at Hoover Dam goes into full operation.
1940 – The P-51 Mustang makes its maiden flight.
1942 – World War II: In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands during the Guadalcanal Campaign, one U.S. aircraft carrier, Hornet, is sunk and another aircraft carrier, Enterprise, is heavily damaged.
1943 – World War II: First flight of the Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil".
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Leyte Gulf ends with an overwhelming American victory.
1947 – The Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu agrees to allow his kingdom to join India.
1955 – After the last Allied troops have left the country and following the provisions of the Austrian Independence Treaty, Austria declares permanent neutrality.
1955 – Ngô Ðình Di?m declares himself Premier of South Vietnam.
1958 – Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France.
1964 – Eric Edgar Cooke becomes last person in Western Australia to be executed.
1967 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran and then crowns his wife Farah Empress of Iran.
1968 – Soviet cosmonaut Georgy Beregovoy pilots Soyuz 3 into space for a four-day mission.
1977 – The last natural case of smallpox is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination.
1979 – Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea is assassinated by Korean Central Intelligence Agency head Kim Jae-kyu. Choi Kyu-ha becomes the acting President; Kim is executed the following May.
1984 – "Baby Fae" receives a heart transplant from a baboon.
1985 – The Australian government returns ownership of Uluru to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines.
1992 – The Charlottetown Accord fails to win majority support in a Canada wide referendum.
1992 – The London Ambulance Service is thrown into chaos after the implementation of a new CAD, or Computer Aided Dispatch, system which failed.
1994 – Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty
1995 – Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Mossad agents assassinate Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shikaki in his hotel in Malta.
1999 – Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament.
2000 – Laurent Gbagbo takes over as president of Côte d'Ivoire following a popular uprising against President Robert Guéï.
2001 – The United States passes the USA PATRIOT Act into law.
2002 – Moscow Theatre Siege: Approximately 50 Chechen terrorists and 150 hostages die when Russian Spetsnaz storm a theater building in Moscow, which had been occupied by the terrorists during a musical performance three days before.
2003 – The Cedar Fire, the second-largest fire in California history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km²), and destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego.

Births

1427 – Archduke Sigismund of Austria (d. 1496)
1473 – Friedrich of Saxony (d. 1612)
1491 – Zhengde Emperor of China (d. 1521)
1564 – Hans Leo Hassler German composer and organist (d. 1521)
1609 – William Sprague, English co-founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts (d. 1675)
1673 – Dimitrie Cantemir, Moldavian prince, prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer (d. 1723)
1684 – Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin, Prussian field marshal (d. 1757)
1685 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian composer (d. 1757)
1694 – Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer (d. 1758)
1757 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher (d. 1823)
1759 – Georges Jacques Danton, French Revolutionary leader (d. 1794)
1768 – Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko, Polish general and politician (d. 1844)
1794 – Konstantin Thon, Russian architect (d. 1881)
1795 – Nikolaos Mantzaros, Greek composer (d. 1872)
1797 – Giuditta Pasta, Italian soprano (d. 1865)
1800 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (d. 1891)
1802 – King Miguel of Portugal (d. 1866)
1803 – Joseph Hansom, English architect and inventor (d. 1882)
1842 – Vasili Vasilyevich Vereshchagin, Russian painter (d. 1904)
1849 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, German mathematician (d. 1917)
1850 – Grigore Tocilescu, Romanian historian, archaeologist, epigrapher and folkorist (d. 1909)
1854 – C. W. Post, American entrepreneur (d. 1914)
1865 – Benjamin Guggenheim, American businessman (d. 1912)
1869 – Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, President of Brazil (d. 1957)
1871 – Guillermo Kahlo, father of Frida Kahlo (d. 1941)
1872 – Harold Fraser, American golfer (d. 1945)
1873 – Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1942)
1873 – A. K. Fazlul Huq, Sher-E-Bangla (Tiger Of Bengal) (d. 1962)
1874 – Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, American socialite and philanthropist (d. 1948)
1874 – Martin Lowry, British chemist (d. 1936)
1880 – Andrei Bely, Russian writer (d. 1934)
1881 – Louis Bastien, French racing cyclist (d. 1963)
1883 – Napoleon Hill, American writer and philosopher (d. 1970)
1883 – Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (d. 1958)
1884 – William Hogenson, American sprinter (d. 1965)
1888 – Nestor Ivanovich Makhno, Ukrainian anarchist (d. 1934)
1893 – Miloš Crnjanski, Serbian poet and author (d. 1977)
1899 – Judy Johnson, American baseball player (d. 1989)
1902 – Beryl Markham, Kenyan horse trainer and author (d. 1986)
1902 – Jack Sharkey, American boxer (d. 1994)
1905 – George Flahiff, Canadian Cardinal (d. 1989)
1906 – Primo Carnera, Italian boxer (d. 1967)
1909 – Dante Quinterno, Argentine comics artist (d. 2003)
1911 – Sid Gillman, American football player (d. 2003)
1911 – Mahalia Jackson, American singer (d. 1972)
1911 – Sorley MacLean, Scottish poet (d. 1996)
1912 – Don Siegel, American director (d. 1991)
1913 – Charlie Barnet, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (d. 1991)
1914 – Jackie Coogan, American actor (d. 1984)
1915 – Joe Fry, British racing driver (d. 1950)
1916 – François Mitterrand, President of France (d. 1996)
1916 – Boyd Wagner, First USAAF fighter ace of World War II (d. 1942)
1919 – Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1980)
1919 – Edward Brooke, American politician
1919 – Frank Bourgholtzer, American television correspondent (d. 2010)
1921 – George Forrest, Northern Irish MP (d. 1968)
1925 – Jan Wolkers, Dutch author (d. 2007)
1926 – Panos Gavalas, Greek singer and musician (d. 1988)
1927 – Warne Marsh, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1987)
1928 – Francisco Solano López, Argentine comics artist
1929 – Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (The Jordanaires) (d. 2000)
1933 – Takis Kanellopoulos, Greek film director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
1934 – Hans-Joachim Rödelius, German composer and musician (Cluster, Harmonia)
1936 – Shelley Morrison, American actress
1940 – John Horgan, author, professor and politician
1940 – Eddie Henderson, American jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player
1941 – Charlie Landsborough, Singer/Songwriter
1942 – Bob Hoskins, British actor
1942 – Zdenko Runjic, Croatian composor (d. 2004)
1942 – Milton Nascimento, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist
1945 – Pat Conroy, American writer
1945 – Demetris Th. Gotsis, Greek poet and author
1946 – Pat Sajak, American game show host
1946 – Holly Woodlawn, Puerto Rican actress
1946 – Keith Hopwood, British musician (Herman's Hermits)
1947 – Hillary Rodham Clinton, American politician, United States Senator from New York (2001–2009), 67th United States Secretary of State (since 2009)
1947 – Jaclyn Smith, American actress
1947 – Trevor Joyce, Irish poet
1947 – Ian Ashley, British racing driver
1947 – Ricardo Asch, Argentine physician
1948 – Toby Harrah, American baseball player
1949 – Steve Rogers, American baseball player
1949 – Antonio Carpio, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
1949 – Kevin Sullivan, American professional wrestler
1951 – Bootsy Collins, American musician (P Funk)
1951 – Tommy Mars, American keyboard player Frank Zappa
1951 – Julian Schnabel, American filmmaker
1952 – Andrew Motion, English poet and Poet Laureate
1952 – David Was, member of 1980's group Was (Not Was)
1953 – Rosa Monckton, English fundraiser
1953 – Keith Strickland, American musician (The B-52's)
1953 – Maureen Teefy, American actress
1954 – Vassilis Hatzipanagis, Greek footballer
1956 – Stephen Gumley, Australian businessman
1956 – Rita Wilson, American actress
1957 – Bob Golic, American football player
1957 – Julie Dawn Cole, British actress
1959 – Brian Bovell, British actor
1959 – François Chau, Cambodian actor
1959 – Paul Farmer, American anthropologist
1959 – Andreas Hinze, German footballer
1959 – Evo Morales, Bolivian politician
1960 – June Brigman, American comic book artist
1960 – Patrick Breen, American actor
1961 – Dylan McDermott, American actor
1961 – Gerald Malloy, American politician
1962 – Cary Elwes, British actor
1963 – Natalie Merchant, American singer
1963 – Ted Demme, American film and television director (d. 2002)
1964 – Thomas Cavanagh, Canadian actor
1965 – Aaron Kwok Fu-Shing, Hong Kong singer
1965 – Kelly Rowan, Canadian actress and producer.
1966 – Jane Hajduk, American actress
1966 – Steve Valentine, British actor
1966 – Jeanne Zelasko, American sportcaster
1966 – Masaharu Iwata, Japanese composer
1967 – Keith Urban, New Zealand singer
1970 – Lisa Ryder, Canadian actress
1970 – Dian Bachar, American actor
1971 – Anthony Rapp, American singer and actor
1971 – Jim Butcher, American author
1973 – Seth MacFarlane, American animator
1973 – Taka Michinoku, Japanese wrestler
1973 – Austin Healey, English rugby player
1974 – Lisa, Japanese musician
1974 – Raveena Tandon, Indian actress
1976 – Miikka Kiprusoff, Finnish hockey player
1977 – Jon Heder, American actor
1978 – Jimmy Aggrey, English footballer
1978 – Eva Kaili, Greek TV presenter and politician
1978 – CM Punk, American wrestler
1978 – Dave Zastudil, American football player
1979 – Movsar Barayev, Chechen militant (d. 2002)
1979 – Josh Portman, American guitarist (Near Miss and Yellowcard)
1980 – Cristian Chivu, Romanian footballer
1981 – Sam Brown, American comedian
1981 – Martina Schild, Swiss alpine skier
1981 – Guy Sebastian, Australian singer
1981 – Chou Ssu-Chi, Taiwanese professional baseball player
1982 – Adam Carroll, British racing driver
1982 – Nicola Adams, British boxer
1983 – Francisco Liriano, Dominican baseball player
1983 – Dmitri Sychev, Russian footballer
1983 – Luke Watson, South African rugby player
1984 – Sasha Cohen, American figure skater
1984 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
1984 – Jefferson Farfán, Peruvian footballer
1984 – Amanda Overmyer, American singer
1985 – Asin, Indian actress
1985 – Andrea Bargnani, Italian basketball player
1985 – Kafoumba Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer
1985 – Monta Ellis, American basketball player
1985 – Kieran Read, New Zealand rugby player
1986 – Marco Ruben, Argentine footballer
1986 – Ibor Bakar, Comorian footballer
1987 – Shawn Lauvao, American football player
1988 – Greg Zuerlein, American ice dancer
1991 – Amala Paul, Indian film actress
1994 – Allie DeBerry, American actress
2000 – Ellery Sprayberry, American actress

Deaths

899 – Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (b. 849)
1235 – King Andrew II of Hungary (b. 1175)
1440 – Gilles de Rais, French serial killer (b. 1404)
1633 – Horio Tadaharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1596)
1671 – Sir John Gell, 1st Baronet, English politician (b. 1593)
1675 – William Sprague, English co-founder of Charlestown, Massachusetts (b. 1609)
1679 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, British soldier, statesman, and dramatist (b. 1621)
1686 – John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, English politician (b. 1623)
1717 – Catherine Sedley, English mistress of James II of England (b. 1657)
1751 – Philip Doddridge, English religious leader (b. 1702)
1764 – William Hogarth, British painter (b. 1697)
1773 – Amédée-François Frézier, French military engineer and explorer (b. 1682)
1803 – Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician (b. 1721)
1806 – John Graves Simcoe, first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada (b. 1752)
1817 – Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (b. 1727)
1864 – "Bloody Bill" Anderson, American Civil War rebel guerrilla leader (b. 1838)
1866 – John Kinder Labatt, Irish-Canadian brewer (Labatt Brewing Company) (b. 1803)
1890 – Carlo Collodi, Italian writer (b. 1826)
1896 – Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour, French statesman (b. 1827)
1902 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American feminist and suffragette (b. 1815)
1909 – Hirobumi Ito, Japanese Prime Minister (b. 1841)
1930 – Harry Payne Whitney, American businessman (b. 1872)
1930 – Waldemar Haffkine, Russian bacteriologist (b. 1860)
1931 – Charles Comiskey, baseball team owner (b. 1859)
1932 – Margaret Brown, American socialite, philanthropist, activist and survivor of RMS Titanic (b. 1867)
1937 – Józef Dowbór-Musnicki, Polish general (b. 1867)
1941 – Arkady Gaidar, Russian children's writer (b. 1904)
1943 – Marc Aurel Stein, Hungarian-born archaeologist (b. 1862)
1944 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1857)
1944 – William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1881)
1945 – Alexei Krylov, Russian engineer and mathematician (b. 1863)
1945 – Paul Pelliot, French explorer (b. 1878)
1946 – Ioannis Rallis, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1878)
1947 – Canon Edwin Sidney Savage, English rector (b. 1862)
1949 – Lionel Halsey, British Royal Navy officer and courtier (b. 1872)
1952 – Hattie McDaniel, American singer and actress (b. 1895)
1956 – Walter Gieseking, German pianist (b. 1895)
1957 – Gerty Cori, Czech-born American biochemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1896)
1957 – Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer (b. 1883)
1962 – Louise Beavers, American actress (b. 1902)
1963 – Elizabeth Gunn, New Zealand paediatrician (b. 1879)
1965 – Sylvia Likens, American torture victim (b. 1949)
1966 – Alma Cogan, English singer (b. 1932)
1971 – Vincent Coleman, American actor (b. 1901)
1972 – Igor Sikorsky, Kiev, Russian Empire (currently Ukraine) born inventor (b. 1889)
1974 – Bidia Dandaron, Buddhist author and teacher in the USSR (b. 1914)
1978 – Alexander Gerschenkron, Russian-born economic historian (b. 1904)
1979 – Park Chung-hee, President of South Korea (b. 1917)
1984 – Gus Mancuso, baseball player (b. 1905)
1986 – Jackson Scholz, American runner (b. 1897)
1989 – Charles J. Pedersen, American Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
1993 – Oro, Mexican professional wrestler (b. 1971)
1994 – Wilbert Harrison, American singer (b. 1929)
1995 – Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (b. 1909)
1995 – Gorni Kramer, Italian bandleader and songwriter (b. 1913)
1997 – Joe Cinque, Australian civil engineer murdered by Anu Singh (b. 1978)
1999 – Hoyt Axton, American actor and country music singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
2002 – Movsar Barayev, Chechen terrorist (b. 1979)
2002 – Jacques Massu, French general (b. 1908)
2004 – Bobby Avila, Mexican-American Major League Baseball player (b. 1924)
2005 – Keith Parkinson, American fantasy artist (b. 1958)
2005 – George Swindin, English football player manager (b. 1914)
2006 – Tillman Franks, American songwriter (b. 1920)
2006 – Pontus Hultén, Swedish art collector and museum director (b. 1924)
2007 – Nicolae Dobrin, Romanian footballer (b. 1947)
2007 – Friedman Paul Erhardt (Chef Tell), German-American TV chef (b. 1943)
2007 – Dr. Arthur Kornberg, American Nobel Prize laureate in 1959 for the discovery of DNA polymerase (b. 1918)
2007 – Khun Sa, Burmese warlord (b. 1934)
2008 – Tony Hillerman, American writer (b. 1925)
2008 – Delmar Watson, American child actor (b. 1926)
2009 – Teel Bivins, American politician (b. 1947)
2009 – George Na'ope, American musician (b. 1928)
2009 – Troy Smith, American businessman, founded Sonic Drive-In (b. 1922)
2010 – Glen "Frosty" Little, American circus clown (b. 1925)
2010 – Mbah Maridjan, Mount Merapi gatekeeper (b. 1927)
2010 – Paul the Octopus, 2010 FIFA World Cup "oracle" (b. 2008)
2010 – Romeu Tuma, Brazilian politician (b. 1931)