today.nukz.net: Almanac October 5 :: Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson ( born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2006 he has hosted the educational science television show NOVA scienceNOW on PBS and has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Jeopardy!. It was announced on August 5, 2011, that Tyson will be hosting a new sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series.

Events

456 – The Visigoths under king Theodoric II, acting on orders of the Roman emperor Avitus, invade Spain with an army of Burgundians, Franks and Goths, led by the kings Chilperic I and Gondioc. They defeat the Suebi under king Rechiar on the river Urbicus near Astorga (Gallaecia).
610 – Coronation of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius.
869 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople is convened to decide about what to do about patriarch Photius of Constantinople.
1143 – King Alfonso VII of León recognises Portugal as a Kingdom.
1450 – Jews are expelled from Lower Bavaria by order of Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria.
1550 – Foundation of Concepción, city in Chile.
1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1665 – The University of Kiel is founded.
1789 – French Revolution: Women of Paris march to Versailles in the March on Versailles to confront Louis XVI about his refusal to promulgate the decrees on the abolition of feudalism, demand bread, and have the King and his court moved to Paris.
1793 – French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France.
1813 – Battle of Thames in Canada; Americans defeat British.
1857 – The City of Anaheim is founded.
1864 – The Indian city of Calcutta is almost totally destroyed by a cyclone; 60,000 die.
1869 – The Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region of Maritime Canada. The storm had been predicted over a year before by a British naval officer.
1877 – Chief Joseph surrenders his Nez Perce band to General Nelson A. Miles.
1895 – The first individual time trial for racing cyclists is held on a 50-mile course north of London.
1903 – Sir Samuel Griffith is appointed the first Chief Justice of Australia and Sir Edmund Barton and Richard O'Connor are appointed as foundation justices.
1905 – Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III in a flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes, a world record that stood until 1908.
1910 – In a revolution in Portugal the monarchy is overthrown and a republic is declared.
1914 – World War I: first aerial combat resulting in an intentional fatality.
1915 – Bulgaria enters World War I as one of the Central Powers.
1921 – Baseball: The World Series is broadcast on the radio for the first time.
1930 – British Airship R101 crashes in France en-route to India on its maiden voyage.
1936 – The Jarrow March sets off for London.
1938 – In Nazi Germany Jews’ passports were invalidated, and those who needed a passport for emigration purposes were given one marked with the letter J (Jude – Jew).
1943 – 98 American POW's executed by Japanese forces on Wake Island.
1944 – Royal Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.
1944 – Suffrage is extended to women in France.
1945 – Hollywood Black Friday: A six-month strike by Hollywood set decorators turns into a bloody riot at the gates of Warner Brothers' studios.
1947 – The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
1948 – The 1948 Ashgabat earthquake kills 110,000.
1953 – The first documented recovery meeting of Narcotics Anonymous is held.
1955 – Disneyland Hotel opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
1962 – Dr. No, the first in the James Bond film series, is released.
1962 – The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do" backed with "P.S. I Love You", is released in the United Kingdom.
1966 – Near Detroit, Michigan, there is a partial core meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration nuclear breeder reactor.
1968 – Police baton civil rights demonstrators in Derry, Northern Ireland – considered to mark the beginning of The Troubles.
1969 – The first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus airs on BBC One.
1970 – The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded.
1970 – Montreal, Quebec: British Trade Commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group, triggering the October Crisis.
1973 – Signature of the European Patent Convention.
1974 – Guildford pub bombings: bombs planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill four British soldiers and one civilian.
1975 – Operation Primicia: terrorist attack against a Military Regiment at Formosa, Argentina.
1982 – Chicago Tylenol murders: Johnson & Johnson initiates a nationwide product recall in the United States for all products in its Tylenol brand after several bottles in Chicago are found to have been laced with cyanide, resulting in seven deaths.
1984 – Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
1986 – Israeli secret nuclear weapons are revealed. The British newspaper The Sunday Times runs Mordechai Vanunu's story on its front page under the headline: "Revealed — the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal".
1988 – The Chilean opposition coalition Concertación (center-left) defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt and a general election is called the following year.
1988 – The Brazilian Constitution is ratified by Constituent Assembly.
1990 – After one hundred and fifty years The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper.
1991 – An Indonesian military transport crashes after takeoff from Jakarta killing 137.
1991 – The first official version of the Linux kernel, version 0.02, is released.
1999 – The Ladbroke Grove rail crash in west London kills 31 people.
2000 – Mass demonstrations in Belgrade lead to resignation of Serbian strongman Slobodan Miloševic. These demonstrations are often called the Bulldozer Revolution.
2011 – In the Mekong River massacre, two Chinese cargo boats are hijacked and 13 crew members murdered in the lawless Golden Triangle region of Southeast Asia.

Births

1338 – Alexios III, Emperor of Trebizond (d. 1390)
1520 – Alessandro Farnese, Italian cardinal (d. 1589)
1641 – Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan, French mistress of King Louis XIV of France (d. 1707)
1658 – Mary of Modena, queen of James II of England (d. 1718)
1695 – John Glas, Scottish minister (d. 1773)
1703 – Jonathan Edwards, American minister (d. 1758)
1712 – Francesco Guardi, Italian painter (d. 1793)
1713 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encyclopedist (d. 1784)
1715 – Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, French economist (d. 1789)
1717 – Marie Anne de Mailly, French mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1744)
1743 – Giuseppe Gazzaniga, Italian opera composers (d. 1818)
1781 – Bernard Bolzano, Czech mathematician and philosopher (d. 1848)
1792 – Joseph Crosfield, English soap and alkali manufacturer (d. 1844)
1795 – Alexander Keith, Scottish-born Canadian brewer (d. 1873)
1820 – David Wilber, American politician (d. 1890)
1824 – Henry Chadwick, English-born American baseball writer and statistician (d. 1908)
1829 – Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (d. 1886)
1844 – Francis William Reitz, State President of the Orange Free State (d. 1934)
1848 – Guido von List, German writer (d. 1919)
1850 – Sergey Muromtsev, Russian lawyer and politician, and President of the First Imperial Duma (d. 1910)
1857 – Peadar Mac Fhionnlaoich, Irish Language writer (d. 1942)
1858 – Helen Churchill Candee, American author, journalist and RMS Titanic survivor (d. 1949)
1864 – Louis Lumière, French film pioneer (d. 1948)
1873 – Lucien Mérignac, French fencer (d. 1941)
1878 – Louise Dresser, American actress (d. 1965)
1879 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1970)
1881 – Robert Stangland, American athlete (d. 1953)
1882 – Robert Goddard, American rocket scientist (d. 1945)
1887 – René Cassin, French jurist and Nobel laureate (d. 1976)
1889 – Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer (d. 1936)
1892 – Remington Kellogg, American naturalist (d. 1969)
1894 – Bevil Rudd, South African athlete (d. 1948)
1898 – Nachum Gutman, Israeli painter (d. 1980)
1899 – Georg, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1963)
1901 – John Alton, American cinematographer (d. 1996)
1902 – Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (d. 1975)
1902 – Ray Kroc, American fast food entrepreneur (d. 1984)
1903 – M. King Hubbert, American geophysicist (d. 1989)
1905 – John Hoyt, American film and television actor (d. 1991)
1905 – Harriet E. MacGibbon, American actress (d. 1987)
1907 – Mrs. Miller, American singer (d. 1997)
1908 – Joshua Logan, American film director and writer (d. 1988)
1909 – Tony Malinosky, American baseball player (d. 2011)
1911 – Flann O'Brien, Irish humorist (d. 1966)
1911 – Pierre Dansereau, Canadian ecologist (d. 2011)
1912 – Fritz Fischer, Nazi war criminal (d. 2003)
1913 – Eugene Bennett Fluckey American Navy Submariner (d. 2007)
1916 – Stetson Kennedy, American writer (d. 2011)
1917 – Allen Ludden, American television game show host (d. 1981)
1917 – Magda Szabó, Hungarian writer (d. 2007)
1919 – Donald Pleasence, English actor (d. 1995)
1919 – Robin Bailey, English actor (d. 1999)
1921 – Bill Willis, American football player (d. 2007)
1922 – José Froilán González, Argentine race car driver
1922 – Bil Keane, American cartoonist (d. 2011)
1922 – Jock Stein, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 1985)
1923 – Philip Berrigan, American peace activist (d. 2002)
1923 – Stig Dagerman, Swedish writer (d. 1954)
1923 – Albert Guðmundsson, Icelandic footballer (d. 1994)
1923 – Glynis Johns, British actress
1924 – Bill Dana, American actor
1924 – José Donoso, Chilean writer (d. 1996)
1924 – Barbara Kelly, Canadian-born actress (d. 2007)
1924 – Bob Thaves, American cartoonist Frank and Ernest (comic strip) (d. 2006)
1925 – Gail Davis, American actress (d. 1997)
1926 – Avraham Adan, Israeli general (d. 2012)
1926 – Willi Unsoeld, American mountaineer (d. 1979)
1928 – Louise Fitzhugh, American author (d. 1974)
1929 – Fred Feast, English actor (d. 1999)
1929 – Richard F. Gordon, Jr., American astronaut
1929 – Bill Wirtz, American ice hockey executive (d. 2007)
1930 – Anne Haddy, Australian actress (d. 1999)
1930 – Pavel Popovich, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2009)
1930 – Reinhard Selten, German economist, Nobel laureate
1932 – Dean Prentice, Canadian ice hockey player
1932 – Michael John Rogers, English ornithologist (d. 2006)
1933 – Diane Cilento, Australian actress (d. 2011)
1934 – Angelo Buono, Jr., American serial killer (d. 2002)
1934 – Kenneth D. Taylor, Canadian ambassador to Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis
1935 – Arlene Saunders, American soprano
1936 – Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic (d. 2011)
1937 – Barry Switzer, American football coach
1938 – Teresa Heinz Kerry, American philanthropist
1939 – Marie-Claire Blais, Canadian author and playwright
1939 – Marie Laforêt, French singer and actress
1939 – Walter Wolf, Slovenian-born Canadian industrialist
1939 – Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Filipino Supreme Court jurist
1940 – Thom Christopher, American actor
1940 – John Byrne Cooke, American novelist and photographer
1940 – Milena Dravic, Serbian actress
1941 – Eduardo Duhalde, President of Argentina
1941 – Roy Book Binder, American folk/blues guitarist and vocalist
1942 – Richard Street, American singer (The Temptations)
1943 – Ben Cardin, American politician
1943 – Steve Miller, American musician (Steve Miller Band)
1945 – Brian Connolly, Scottish singer (Sweet) (d. 1997)
1945 – Geoff Leigh, English musician (Henry Cow)
1946 – Zahida Hina, Pakistani columnist
1946 – Jean Perron, Canadian ice hockey coach
1947 – Brian Johnson, English singer (AC/DC)
1947 – Michèle Pierre-Louis, Prime Minister of Haiti
1948 – Carter Cornelius, American musician (Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose) (d. 1991)
1948 – Tawl Ross, American musician (P Funk)
1948 – Zoran Živkovic, Serbian writer
1949 – Ralph Goodale, Canadian politician
1949 – Bill James, American baseball writer
1949 – B. W. Stevenson, American singer (d. 1988)
1950 – Eddie Clarke, English guitarist (Motörhead, Fastway)
1950 – Jeff Conaway, American actor (d. 2011)
1950 – Edward P. Jones, American writer
1950 – James Rizzi, American pop artist (d. 2011)
1951 – Karen Allen, American actress
1951 – Bob Geldof, Irish singer (The Boomtown Rats) and activist
1952 – Clive Barker, English writer
1952 – Duncan Regehr, Canadian actor
1952 – Gigi Sabani, Italian TV host (d. 2007)
1955 – John Alexander, English former footballer
1955 – Jean-Jacques Lafon, French singer-songwriter
1955 – Caroline Loeb, French singer and actress
1955 – Ángela Molina, Spanish actress
1957 – Mark Geragos, American attorney
1957 – Lee Thompson, English saxophonist (Madness), vocalist
1957 – Bernie Mac, American actor and comedian (d. 2008)
1958 – André Kuipers, Dutch astronaut
1958 – Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist
1959 – Maya Lin, American architect and sculptor
1959 – Kelly Joe Phelps, American guitarist, singer, and songwriter
1960 – Daniel Baldwin, American actor
1960 – Careca, Brazilian footballer
1960 – David Kirk, New Zealand rugby union footballer
1960 – David Shannon, American children's author
1960 – Evangelia Tzampazi, Greek politician
1961 – Sharon Cheslow, American musician, composer and artist
1961 – Matthew Kauffman, American journalist and George Polk Award winner
1962 – Michael Andretti, American race car driver
1962 – Thomas Herbst, German footballer
1962 – Caron Keating, British television personality (d. 2004)
1963 – Laura Davies, English golfer
1963 – Michael Hadschieff, Austrian speed skater
1964 – Keiji Fujiwara, Japanese voice actor
1964 – Malik Saidullaev Chechen businessman
1965 – Trace Armstrong, American football player
1965 – Mario Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Patrick Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 – Dennis Byrd, American football player
1966 – Sean M. Carroll, American cosmologist
1966 – Terri Runnels, American wrestling manager
1966 – Jan Verhaas, Dutch snooker referee
1967 – Rex Chapman, American basketball player
1967 – Guy Pearce, Anglo-Australian actor
1970 – Josie Bissett, American actress
1970 – Matthew Knights, Australian rules footballer
1970 – Audie Pitre, American musician (d. 1996)
1970 – Cal Wilson, New Zealand television personality
1971 – South Park Mexican, American rapper
1971 – Mauricio Pellegrino, Argentine former footballer
1971 – Samuel Vincent, Canadian voice actor
1972 – Aaron Guiel, Canadian baseball player
1972 – Grant Hill, American basketball player
1972 – Thomas Roberts, American news anchor
1974 – Anousjka van Exel, Dutch tennis player
1974 – Rich Franklin, American mixed martial artist
1974 – Heather Headley, Trinidadian singer
1974 – Colin Meloy, American singer (The Decemberists)
1974 – Alex Walkinshaw, English actor
1975 – Bobo Baldé, Guinean footballer
1975 – Carson Ellis, American artist
1975 – Christian Fährmann, German footballer
1975 – Parminder Nagra, English actress
1975 – Scott Weinger American actor
1975 – Monica Rial American voice actress
1975 – Kate Winslet, English actress
1976 – Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen president
1976 – Song Seung-hun, South Korean actor
1976 – Royston Tan, Singaporean screenwriter & director
1976 – J. J. Yeley, American race car driver
1977 – Hugleikur Dagsson, Icelandic artist
1978 – Jesse Palmer, Canadian-born American football player
1978 – Shane Ryan, Irish Gaelic footballer
1978 – James Valentine, American musician (Maroon 5)
1978 – Morgan Webb, Canadian-born television presenter
1979 – Vince Grella, Australian footballer
1979 – Joe Lipari, American writer, comedian & filmmaker
1979 – Curtis Sanford, Canadian ice hockey player
1980 – Paul Thomas, American bassist (Good Charlotte)
1980 – James Toseland, British motorcycle racer
1981 – Andy Nägelein, German footballer
1981 – Kelvin Tan Wei Lian, Singaporean singer
1982 – Steve Williams, Australian-born German rugby player
1983 – Jesse Eisenberg, American actor
1983 – Nicky Hilton, American heiress
1983 – Florian Mayer, German tennis player
1983 – Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladeshi cricketer
1983 – Noot Seear, Canadian fashion model and actress
1984 – Naima Adedapo, American singer
1984 – Tiana Benjamin, British actress
1984 – Kenwyne Jones, Trinidadian footballer
1985 – Nicola Roberts, English singer (Girls Aloud)
1986 – Mladen Bartulovic, Croatian footballer
1987 – Tim Ream, American soccer player
1987 – Park So Yeon, South Korean singer (T-ara)
1987 – Luigi Vitale, Italian footballer
1987 – Kevin Mirallas, Belgian footballer
1987 – Javier Villa, Spanish racing driver
1988 – Benny Howell, English cricketer
1988 – Bahar Kizil, German singer (Monrose)
1989 – Marcel Baude, German footballer

Deaths

578 – Justin II, Byzantine Emperor (b. 520)
1056 – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1017)
1112 – Sigebert of Gembloux, French chronicler
1214 – King Alfonso VIII of Castile (b. 1155)
1285 – King Philip III of France (b. 1245)
1528 – Richard Foxe, English churchman
1540 – Helius Eobanus Hessus, German poet (b. 1488)
1564 – Pierre de Manchicourt, Flemish composer
1565 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (b. 1522)
1606 – Philippe Desportes, French poet (b. 1546)
1714 – Kaibara Ekiken, Japanese philosopher (b. 1630)
1740 – Johann Philipp Baratier, German scholar (b. 1721)
1777 – Johann Andreas Segner, Slovak and German mathematician, physicist, and physician (b. 1704)
1791 – Grigori Potemkin, Russian statesman (b. 1739)
1805 – Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British general (b. 1738)
1813 – Tecumseh, Shawnee leader (b. 1768)
1848 – Joseph Hormayr Freiherr zu Hortenburg, Austrian politician (b. 1781)
1861 – Antoni Melchior Fijalkowski, Polish bishop (b. 1778)
1880 – Jacques Offenbach, German-born composer (b. 1819)
1895 – Ralph Tollemache, British clergyman (b. 1826)
1913 – Hans von Bartels, German painter (b. 1856)
1918 – Roland Garros, French pilot (b. 1888)
1927 – Sam Warner, Motion picture producer, one of the Warner Brothers (b. 1887)
1929 – Varghese Payapilly Palakkappilly, Indian Syrian Catholic priest and Servant of God (b. 1876)
1930 – Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson, British military officer (b. 1875)
1933 – Renée Adorée, French actress (b. 1898)
1933 – Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich, Russian general (b. 1862)
1936 – J. Slauerhoff, Dutch poet and novelist (b. 1898)
1938 – Saint Faustina, Polish saint (b. 1905)
1940 – Ballington Booth, English-born American religious leader (b. 1857)
1940 – Lincoln Loy McCandless, American cattle rancher (b. 1859)
1940 – Silvestre Revueltas, Mexican musician (b. 1889)
1941 – Louis Dembitz Brandeis, American jurist (b. 1856)
1943 – Leon Roppolo, American musician (b. 1902)
1950 – Frederic Lewy, German neurologist (b. 1885)
1952 – Joe Jagersberger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1884)
1975 – Lady Constance Malleson, British actor and writer (b. 1895)
1976 – Barbara Nichols, American actress (b. 1929)
1976 – Lars Onsager, Norwegian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1903)
1981 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (b. 1923)
1983 – Earl Tupper, American inventor (b. 1907)
1983 – Humberto Mauro, Brazilian film director and screenwriter (b. 1897)
1986 – Hal B. Wallis, American film producer (b. 1898)
1986 – James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician (b. 1919)
1986 – Mike Burgmann, Australian racing driver (b. 1947)
1992 – Eddie Kendricks, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1939)
1993 – Jim Holton, Scottish footballer (b. 1951)
1995 – Linda Gary, American voice actress (b. 1944)
1996 – Seymour Cray, American electrical engineer and supercomputer architect (b. 1925)
1997 – Brian Pillman, American professional wrestler (b. 1962)
2000 – Catalin Hîldan, Romanian footballer (b. 1976)
2001 – Mike Mansfield, American politician (b. 1903)
2001 – Robert Stevens, first victim in the anthrax attacks (b. 1938)
2002 – Chuck Rayner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1920)
2003 – Denis Quilley, English actor (b. 1927)
2003 – Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1978)
2003 – Timothy Treadwell, American bear enthusiast and documentary film maker (b. 1957)
2004 – Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian (b. 1921)
2004 – Maurice Wilkins, New Zealand physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1916)
2004 – William H. Dobelle, American biomedical engineer (b. 1941)
2006 – Jennifer Moss, English actress (b. 1945)
2006 – Antonio Peña, Mexican lucha libre promoter (b. 1953)
2007 – Justin Tuveri, Italian WWI veteran (b. 1898)
2009 – Mike Alexander, English bassist (Evile) (b. 1977)
2010 – Bernard Clavel, French novelist (b. 1923)
2010 – Mary Leona Gage, American beauty pageant winner and actress (b. 1939)
2010 – Steve Lee, Swiss musician and vocalist (Gotthard) (b. 1963)
2011 – Derrick Bell, American legal scholar and civil rights advocate (b. 1930)
2011 – Bert Jansch, Scottish folk musician (b. 1943)
2011 – Steve Jobs, American computer entrepreneur and innovator, co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc. (b. 1955)
2011 – Charles Napier, American actor (b. 1936)
2011 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American civil rights activist (b. 1922)