today.nukz.net: Almanac October 28

Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.) is a director, designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake. His game designs and development tools, along with new programming techniques created and implemented by id Software's lead programmer John D. Carmack, led to a mass popularization of the first person shooter, or FPS, in the 1990s. He is credited with coining the FPS multiplayer term "deathmatch".

Events

97 – Emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor.
306 – Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor.
312 – Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine I defeats Maxentius, becoming the sole Roman emperor.
456 – The Visigoths brutally sack the Suebi's capital of Braga (Portugal), churches are burnt to the ground.
1061 – Empress Agnes, acting as regent for her son, brings about the election of bishop Cadalus, the antipope Honorius II.
1516 – Battle of Yaunis Khan: Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza.
1531 – Battle of Amba Sel: Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia. The southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control.
1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established.
1628 – The Siege of La Rochelle, which had lasted for 14 months, ends with the surrender of the Huguenots.
1636 – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University.
1664 – The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot, later to be known as the Royal Marines, is established.
1707 – The 1707 Hoei earthquake causes more than 5,000 deaths in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan
1775 – American Revolutionary War: A British proclamation forbids residents from leaving Boston.
1776 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of White Plains – British Army forces arrive at White Plains, attack and capture Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
1834 – The Battle of Pinjarra is fought in the Swan River Colony in present-day Pinjarra, Western Australia. Between 14 and 40 Aborigines are killed by British colonists.
1835 – The United Tribes of New Zealand is established with the signature of the Declaration of Independence.
1848 – The first railroad in Spain – between Barcelona and Mataró – is opened.
1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road (also known as the Second Battle of Fair Oaks) ends – Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant withdraw from Fair Oaks, Virginia, after failing to breach the Confederate defenses around Richmond, Virginia.
1886 – In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
1891 – The Mino-Owari earthquake, the largest inland earthquake in Japan's history, strikes Gifu Prefecture.
1893 – Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its première performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer's death.
1915 – Richard Strauss conducts the first performance of his tone poem Eine Alpensinfonie in Berlin.
1918 – World War I: Czechoslovakia is granted independence from Austria-Hungary marking the beginning of an independent Czechoslovak state, after 300 years.
1918 – A new Polish government in Western Galicia is established.
1919 – The U.S. Congress passes the Volstead Act over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, paving the way for Prohibition to begin the following January.
1922 – March on Rome: Italian fascists led by Benito Mussolini march on Rome and take over the Italian government.
1928 – Declaration of the Youth Pledge in Indonesia, the first time Indonesia Raya, now the national anthem, was sung.
1929 – Black Monday, a day in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which also saw major stock market upheaval.
1940 – World War II: Greece rejects Italy's ultimatum. Italy invades Greece through Albania, marking Greece's entry into World War II.
1942 – The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska.
1948 – Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT.
1958 – John XXIII, is elected Pope.
1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
1964 – Vietnam War: U.S. officials deny any involvement in bombing North Vietnam.
1965 – Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus, reversing Innocent III's 760 year-old declaration.
1965 – Construction on the St. Louis Arch is completed.
1971 – Britain launches the satellite Prospero into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket, the only British satellite to date launched by a British rocket.
1982 – The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party wins elections, leading to the first Socialist government in Spain after death of Franco. Felipe Gonzalez becomes Prime Minister-elect.
1990 – The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic holds the first multiparty legislature election in the country's history.
1995 – 289 people are killed and 265 injured in Baku Metro fire, the deadliest subway disaster.
1998 – An Air China jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan.
2005 – Plame affair: Lewis Libby, Vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff, is indicted in the Valerie Plame case. Libby resigns later that day.
2006 – The funeral service takes place for those executed at Bykivnia forest, outside Kiev, Ukraine. 817 Ukrainian civilians (out of some 100,000) executed by Bolsheviks at Bykivnia in 1930s – early 1940s are reburied.
2007 – Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina.
2009 – The 28 October 2009 Peshawar bombing kills 117 and wounds 213.
2009 – NASA successfully launches the Ares I-X mission, the only rocket launch for its later-cancelled Constellation program.

Births

1466 – Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, Dutch theologian and Catholic priest (d. 1536)
1510 – Francis Borgia, Spanish duke and Jesuit priest (d. 1572)
1585 – Cornelius Jansen, Dutch bishop (d. 1638)
1667 – Maria Anna of Neuburg, second wife of Charles II of Spain (d. 1740)
1691 – Peder Tordenskjold, Norwegian naval hero (d. 1720)
1693 – Šimon Brixi, Czech composer (d. 1735)
1697 – Canaletto, Italian artist (d. 1768)
1703 – Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician (d. 1768)
1718 – Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian Jesuit missionary (d. 1793)
1733 – Franz Ignaz von Beecke, German composer (d. 1803)
1767 – Queen Marie Sophie of Hesse-Kassel of Denmark and Norway (d. 1852)
1793 – Eliphalet Remington, American firearms manufacturer (d. 1861)
1804 – Pierre François Verhulst, Belgian mathematician (d. 1849)
1818 – Ivan Turgenev, Russian writer (d. 1883)
1837 – Tokugawa Yoshinobu, Japanese shogun (d. 1913)
1839 – Edward P. Allen, American politician (d. 1909)
1845 – Zygmunt Florenty Wróblewski, Polish physicist (d. 1888)
1846 – Georges Auguste Escoffier, French chef (d. 1935)
1854 – Jean-Marie Guyau, French philosopher and poet (d. 1888)
1860 – Jigoro Kano, Japanese martial artist (d. 1938)
1864 – Adolfo Camarillo, American-born Mexican land owner and rancher (d. 1958)
1875 – Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, American geographer and editor (d. 1966)
1877 – Joe Adams, American baseball player (d. 1952)
1879 – Channing H. Cox, American politician (d. 1968)
1881 – Bruno Söderström, Swedish athlete (d. 1969)
1881 – Vin Coutie, Australian footballer
1884 – William Douglas Cook, New Zealander horticulturalist (d. 1967)
1885 – Velimir Khlebnikov, Russian poet (d. 1922)
1889 – Juliette Béliveau, Quebec comedian (d. 1975)
1891 – Ormer Locklear, American movie stunt pilot (d. 1920)
1892 – Dink Johnson, American musician (d. 1954)
1896 – Howard Hanson, American composer (d. 1981)
1897 – Edith Head, American costume designer (d. 1981)
1901 – Eileen Shanahan, Irish poet (d. 1979)
1902 – Elsa Lanchester, British-born actress (d. 1986)
1903 – Evelyn Waugh, English writer (d. 1966)
1903 – John Chamberlain, American journalist (d. 1995)
1907 – John Hewitt, Northern Irish poet (d. 1987)
1908 – Arturo Frondizi, Argentine politician (d. 1995)
1909 – Francis Bacon, Irish painter (d. 1992)
1912 – Richard Doll, English epidemiologist (d. 2005)
1913 – Douglas Seale, English actor (d. 1999)
1914 – Glenn Robert Davis, American politician (d. 1988)
1914 – Jonas Salk, American biologist and physician (d. 1995)
1914 – Richard Laurence Millington Synge, British biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
1917 – Jack Soo, American actor (d. 1979)
1921 – Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (the 40th Yokozuna) (d. 1973)
1922 – Gershon Kingsley, German composer
1922 – Butch van Breda Kolff, American basketball coach (d. 2007)
1922 – Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwe politician (d. 2003)
1924 – Antonio Creus, Spanish racecar driver (d. 1996)
1925 – Ian Hamilton Finlay, Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener (d. 2006)
1926 – Bowie Kuhn, American baseball executive (d. 2007)
1927 – Cleo Laine, British singer
1927 – Roza Makagonova, Russian actress (d. 1995)
1928 – Ion Mihai Pacepa, Romanian general
1928 – Iry LeJeune, American musician (d. 1955)
1929 – Joan Plowright, British actress
1929 – Marcel Bozzuffi, French actor (d. 1988)
1929 – John Hollander, American poet
1930 – Bernie Ecclestone, English motorsports figure
1932 – Suzy Parker, American actress (d. 2003)
1932 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cyprian politician (d. 2002)
1933 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (d. 1983)
1935 – Alan Clarke, British film director (d. 1990)
1936 – Charlie Daniels, American musician
1936 – Carl Davis, American-born British conductor and composer
1937 – Lenny Wilkens, American basketball player and coach
1938 – Dave Budd, American basketball player
1938 – David Dimbleby, English television commentator
1938 – Anne Perry, English-born novelist
1938 – Kenneth Best, Liberian journalist
1939 – Jane Alexander, American actress
1939 – Miroslav Cerar, Yugoslav gymnast
1939 – Andy Bey, jazz singer and pianist
1940 – Susan Harris, American television writer and producer
1941 – John Hallam, Irish actor (d. 2006)
1941 – Hank Marvin, English guitarist
1941 – Curtis Lee, American singer
1942 – Abdelkader Freha, Algerian footballer (d. 2012)
1942 – Kees Verkerk, Dutch speed skater
1943 – Conny Froboess, German singer
1943 – Charo López, Spanish actress
1944 – Dennis Franz, American actor
1944 – Anton Schlecker, German businessman
1944 – Coluche, French comedian and actor (d. 1986)
1945 – Elton Dean, English musician (Soft Machine) (d. 2006)
1945 – Wayne Fontana, British singer (The Mindbenders)
1946 – Wim Jansen, Dutch footballer and coach
1946 – John Hewson, Australian politician
1948 – Telma Hopkins, American singer and actress (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
1949 – Bruce Jenner, American athlete
1949 – Tracy Reed, American actress
1950 – Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisian human rights activist
1950 – Ludo Delcroix, Belgian cyclist
1952 – Annie Potts, American actress
1953 – Pierre Boivin, Canadian businessman and hockey executive
1953 – Desmond Child, American songwriter
1955 – Bill Gates, American software executive
1955 – Indra Nooyi, Indian born American Corporate Leader, PepsiCo CEO
1956 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian politician
1956 – Dave Wyndorf, American singer (Monster Magnet)
1956 – Volker Zotz, Austrian philosopher
1957 – Christian Berkel, German actor
1957 – Stephen Morris, British musician (Joy Division and New Order)
1957 – Zach Wamp, American politician
1958 – William Reid, Scottish musician (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
1958 – Ashok Chavan, Indian politician
1959 – Randy Wittman, American basketball player
1959 – James Keelaghan, Canadian folk singer-songwriter
1960 – Landon Curt Noll, American computer scientist
1960 – Mark Derwin, American actor
1962 – Daphne Zuniga, American actress
1962 – Scotty Nguyen, Vietnamese-born American professional poker player
1962 – Erik Thorstvedt, Norwegian footballer
1963 – Lauren Holly, American actress
1963 – James Miller, American parachutist and paraglider pilot (d. 2002)
1963 – Eros Ramazzotti, Italian singer
1963 – Sheryl Underwood, American comedian
1964 – Onofrio Catacchio, Italian artist
1965 – Jami Gertz, American actress
1966 – Steve Atwater, American football player
1966 – Andy Richter, American comedian and actor
1966 – Aris Spiliotopoulos, Greek politician
1967 – Julia Roberts, American actress
1967 – Monica Chan, Hong Kong actress and beauty pageant winner
1967 – John Romero, American video game designer
1967 – Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein
1967 – Kevin Macdonald, Scottish film director
1968 – Marc Lièvremont, French rugby union footballer and coach
1968 – Caitlin Cary, alt-country singer & violin player, former member of Whiskeytown
1968 – Chris Broussard, ESPN basketball analyst
1969 – Ben Harper, American musician
1969 – Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Puerto Rican screenwriter and producer
1970 – Greg Eagles, American voice actor
1971 – Roxana Briban, Romanian Soprano
1971 – Leonidas Sabanis, Greek weightlifter
1972 – Terrell Davis, American football player
1972 – Brad Paisley, American musician
1973 – Hassan Assad, American professional wrestler
1973 – Aleksandar Stanojevic, Serbian football manager and former player
1974 – Joaquin Phoenix, American actor
1974 – Vicente Moreno, Spanish footballer
1974 – Braden Looper, American baseball player
1974 – Dejan Stefanovic, Serbian footballer
1974 – Dayanara Torres, Puerto Rican actress and beauty queen
1976 – Keiron Cunningham, Welsh rugby league player
1976 – Simone Loria, Italian footballer
1977 – Lauren Woodland, American actress
1978 – Marta Etura, Spanish actress
1978 – Justin Guarini, American singer
1979 – Martin Škoula, Czech ice hockey player
1979 – Aki Hakala, Finnish musician
1980 – Christy Hemme, American professional wrestler
1980 – Kanzi, American bonobo
1980 – Dimitri Liakopoulos, Greek actor
1980 – Alan Smith, English footballer
1980 – Agnes Obel, Danish singer/songwriter
1981 – Solomon Andargachew, Ethiopian footballer
1981 – Milan Baroš, Czech footballer
1981 – Nate McLouth, American baseball player
1981 – Nick Montgomery, English footballer
1982 – Jeremy Bonderman, American baseball player
1982 – Mai Kuraki, Japanese singer
1982 – Anthony Lerew, American baseball player
1982 – Matt Smith, English actor
1983 – Jarrett Jack, American basketball player
1983 – Joe Thomas, English actor
1984 – Obafemi Martins, Nigerian footballer
1984 – Bryn Evans, New Zealand rugby player
1985 – Troian Bellisario, American actress
1986 – Anthony Griffith, English footballer
1986 – Aki Toyosaki, Japanese voice actress and singer
1987 – Frank Ocean, American singer-songwriter
1988 – Edd Gould, English flash animator (d. 2012)
1988 – Devon Murray, Irish singer and actor
1988 – Kim Un-Guk, North Korean weightlifter
1992 – Lexi Ainsworth, American actress
1996 – Jasmine Jessica Anthony, American actress
1997 – Sierra McCormick, American actress