today.nukz.net: Almanac November 17

Martin Charles Scorsese ( born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors of all time. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation. He is a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema, and has won an Academy Award, a Palme d'Or, Grammy Award, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and DGA Awards.

Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, modern crime, and violence. Scorsese is hailed as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers of all time, directing landmark films such as Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and Goodfellas (1990) – all of which he collaborated on with actor and close friend Robert De Niro. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Departed (2006), having been nominated a previous six times.

Events

474 – Emperor Leo II dies after a reign of 10 months. He is succeeded by his father Zeno, who becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
794 – Japanese Emperor Kammu changes his residence from Nara to Kyoto.
1183 – The Battle of Mizushima.
1292 – John Balliol becomes King of Scotland.
1511 – Spain and England ally against France.
1558 – Elizabethan era begins: Queen Mary I of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I of England.
1603 – English explorer, writer and courtier Sir Walter Raleigh goes on trial for treason.
1659 – The Peace of the Pyrenees is signed between France and Spain.
1777 – Articles of Confederation (USA]) are submitted to the states for ratification.
1796 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Arcole – French forces defeat the Austrians in Italy.
1800 – The United States Congress holds its first session in Washington, D.C.
1810 – Sweden declares war on its ally the United Kingdom to begin the Anglo-Swedish War, although no fighting ever takes place.
1811 – José Miguel Carrera, Chilean founding father, is sworn in as President of the executive Junta of the government of Chile.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Krasnoi.
1820 – Captain Nathaniel Palmer becomes the first American to see Antarctica (the Palmer Peninsula is later named after him).
1831 – Ecuador and Venezuela are separated from Greater Colombia.
1839 – Oberto, Giuseppe Verdi's first opera, opens at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan,
1855 – David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe.
1856 – American Old West: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
1858 – Modified Julian Day zero.
1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins – Confederate forces led by General James Longstreet place Knoxville, Tennessee, under siege.
1869 – In Egypt, the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, is inaugurated.
1871 – The National Rifle Association is granted a charter by the state of New York.
1876 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March is given its première performance in Moscow.
1878 – First assassination attempt against Umberto I of Italy by anarchist Giovanni Passannante. armed with a dagger. The King survived with a slight wound in an arm. Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli blocked the aggressor, receiving an injury in a leg.
1903 – The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party splits into two groups; the Bolsheviks (Russian for "majority") and Mensheviks (Russian for "minority").
1911 – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, which is the first black Greek-lettered organization founded at an HBCU, was founded on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
1919 – King George V of the United Kingdom proclaims Armistice Day (later Remembrance Day). The idea is first suggested by Edward George Honey.
1922 – Former Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI goes into exile in Italy.
1922 – The first executions during the Irish Civil War take place when five Irish Republican Army members are sent to the firing squad by the Irish Free State.
1933 – United States recognizes Soviet Union.
1939 – Nine Czech students are executed as a response to anti-Nazi demonstrations prompted by the death of Jan Opletal. In addition, all Czech universities are shut down and over 1200 Czech students sent to concentration camps. Since this event, International Students' Day is celebrated in many countries, especially in the Czech Republic.
1947 – The Screen Actors Guild implements an anti-Communist loyalty oath.
1947 – American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th Century.
1950 – Lhamo Dondrub is officialy named the 14th Dalai Lama.
1953 – The remaining human inhabitants of the Blasket Islands, Kerry, Ireland are evacuated to the mainland.
1957 – Vickers Viscount G-AOHP of British European Airways crashes at Ballerup after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause is a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft.
1962 – President John F. Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C., region.
1967 – Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."
1968 – Alexandros Panagoulis is condemned to death for attempting to assassinate Greek dictator George Papadopoulos.
1968 – British European Airways introduces the BAC One-Eleven into commercial service.
1968 – Viewers of the Raiders–Jets football game in the eastern United States are denied the opportunity to watch its exciting finish when NBC broadcasts Heidi instead, prompting changes to sports broadcasting in the U.S.
1969 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
1969 – British newspaper The Sun was first published as a tabloid.
1970 – Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Massacre.
1970 – Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
1973 – Watergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."
1973 – The Athens Polytechnic Uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.
1979 – Brisbane Suburban Railway Electrification. The first stage from Ferny Grove to Darra is commissioned.
1982 – Duk Koo Kim dies unexpectedly from injuries sustained during a 14-round match against Ray Mancini in Las Vegas, Nevada, prompting reforms in the sport of boxing.
1983 – The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is founded in Mexico.
1989 – Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).
1990 – Fugendake, part of the Mount Unzen volcanic complex, Nagasaki prefecture, Japan, becomes active again and erupts.
1993 – United States House of Representatives passes resolution to establish the North American Free Trade Agreement after greater authority in trade negotiations was granted to President George H. W. Bush in 1991.
1997 – In Luxor, Egypt, 62 people are killed by 6 Islamic militants outside the Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Luxor massacre (The police then kill the assailants).
2000 – A catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom, Slovenia, kills 7, and causes millions of SIT of damage. It is one of the worst catastrophes in Slovenia in the past 100 years.
2000 – Alberto Fujimori is removed from office as president of Peru.

Births

9 – Emperor Vespasian, Roman emperor (d. 79)
1503 – Agnolo di Cosimo, Italian painter (d. 1572)
1576 – Roque Gonzales, Paraguayan missionary (d. 1628)
1587 – Joost van den Vondel, Dutch poet (d. 1679)
1612 – Dorgon, Manchu prince (d. 1650)
1681 – Pierre François le Courayer, French theologian (d. 1776)
1685 – Pierre Gaultier, French-Canadian trader and explorer (d. 1749)
1729 – Maria Antonietta of Spain, queen of Sardinia (d. 1785)
1749 – Nicolas Appert, French inventor (d. 1841)
1753 – Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American clergyman and botanist (d. 1815)
1755 – King Louis XVIII of France (d. 1824)
1765 – Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald, French marshal (d. 1840)
1790 – August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician (d. 1868)
1793 – Charles Lock Eastlake, English painter (d. 1865)
1799 – Titian Peale, American artist (d. 1885)
1816 – August Wilhelm Ambros, Austrian composer (d. 1876)
1827 – Petko Slavejkov, Bulgarian writer (d. 1895)
1835 – Andrew L. Harris, American politician (d. 1915)
1854 – Hubert Lyautey, French general (d. 1934)
1857 – Joseph Babinski, French neurologist (d. 1932)
1866 – Voltairine de Cleyre, American anarchist (d. 1912)
1868 – Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist (d. 1918)
1877 – Frank Calder, English-born Canadian sports executive (d. 1943)
1878 – Grace Abbott, American social worker (d. 1939)
1878 – Augustus Goessling, American water polo player and swimmer (d. 1963)
1878 – Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist (d. 1968)
1886 – Walter Terence Stace, English philosopher (d. 1967)
1887 – Bernard Montgomery, English World War II commander (d. 1976)
1894 – Richard Nikolaus Graf Coudenhove-Kalergi, Austrian politician (d. 1972)
1895 – Mikhail Bakhtin, Russian philosopher (d. 1975)
1895 – Gregorio López y Fuentes, Mexican author (d. 1966)
1896 – Lev Vygotsky, Russian psychologist (d. 1934)
1897 – Frank Fay, American actor (d. 1961)
1899 – Douglas Shearer, Canadian film sound engineer (d. 1971)
1901 – Walter Hallstein, German politician (d. 1982)
1901 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian director (d. 1982)
1902 – Eugene Wigner, Hungarian physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1995)
1904 – Isamu Noguchi, American sculptor (d. 1988)
1905 – Queen Astrid of the Belgians (d. 1935)
1905 – Mischa Auer, American actor (d. 1967)
1906 – Soichiro Honda, Japanese automobile pioneer (d. 1991)
1906 – Rollie Stiles, American baseball player (d. 2007)
1907 – Israel Regardie, English occultist and writer (d. 1985)
1911 – Christian Fouchet, French diplomat (d. 1974)
1916 – Shelby Foote, American historian (d. 2005)
1920 – Camillo Felgen, Luxembourgish singer (d. 2005)
1921 – Albert Bertelsen, Danish painter
1922 – Stanley Cohen, American biochemist, Nobel laureate
1923 – Hubertus Brandenburg, Swedish bishop (d. 2009)
1923 – Mike Garcia, American baseball player (d. 1986)
1923 – Aristides Pereira, Cape Verde politician (d. 2011)
1923 – Bert Sutcliffe, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2001)
1925 – Jean Faut, American baseball player
1925 – Rock Hudson, American actor (d. 1985)
1925 – Charles Mackerras, Australian-born conductor (d. 2010)
1927 – Robert Brown, American actor
1927 – Robert Drasnin, American musician and composer
1928 – Rance Howard, American actor
1928 – Arman, French-born American artist (d. 2005)
1929 – Norm Zauchin, American baseball player (d. 1999)
1930 – Bob Mathias, American decathlete (d. 2006)
1933 – Orlando Peña, Cuban baseball player
1934 – Fenella Fielding, English actress
1934 – Jim Inhofe, American politician
1935 – Bobby Joe Conrad, American football player
1935 – Toni Sailer, Austrian skier (d. 2009)
1936 – Dahlia Ravikovitch, Israeli poet (d. 2005)
1937 – Peter Cook, English comedian (d. 1995)
1938 – Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer
1939 – Auberon Waugh, English author (d. 2001)
1940 – Luke Kelly, Irish singer and banjo player (d. 1984)
1940 – Asik Mahzuni Serif, Turkish musician, composer and poet (d. 2002)
1942 – Kang Kek Iew, Cambodian politician and criminal
1942 – Bob Gaudio, American musician, and record producer.
1942 – Martin Scorsese, American film director
1942 – István Rosztóczy, Hungarian microbiologist
1943 – Lauren Hutton, American actress
1944 – Jim Boeheim, Hall of Fame basketball coach
1944 – Gene Clark, American singer and songwriter (The Byrds) (d. 1991)
1944 – Danny DeVito, American actor
1944 – Rem Koolhaas, Dutch architect
1944 – Lorne Michaels, Canadian producer
1944 – Tom Seaver, American baseball player
1945 – Elvin Hayes, American basketball player
1945 – Roland Joffé, Anglo-French film director
1946 – Martin Barre, English musician (Jethro Tull)
1946 – Terry E. Branstad, American politician
1947 – Steven E. de Souza, American scriptwriter
1947 – Inky Mark, Canadian politician
1947 – Robert "Stewkey" Antoni American musician (Nazz)
1948 – Howard Dean, American politician
1948 – East Bay Ray, American musician
1949 – John Boehner, American politician
1949 – Nguy?n T?n Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam
1950 – Tom Walkinshaw, Scottish race car driver and team owner (d. 2010)
1951 – Butch Davis, American football coach
1951 – Dean Paul Martin, American singer and actor (d. 1987)
1951 – Stephen Root, American actor
1952 – Ties Kruize, Dutch field hockey player
1953 – Babis Tennes, Greek football manager
1954 – Mark Brandon Read, Australian criminal
1955 – Yolanda King, American daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 2007)
1955 – Dennis Maruk, Canadian hockey player
1955 – Dan Schnurrenberger, American canoer
1956 – Graham Jones, English author and psychologist
1957 – Debbie Thrower, English news reader
1958 – Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, American actress
1959 – Terry Fenwick, English footballer
1959 – William R. Moses, American actor
1960 – Michael Hertwig, German footballer
1960 – RuPaul, American entertainer
1960 – Mandy Yachad, South African cricketer
1961 – Robert Stethem, American murder victim (d. 1985)
1961 – Pat Toomey, American politician
1962 – Dédé Fortin, Canadian singer (Les Colocs) (d. 2000)
1963 – Randy Black, Canadian drummer (Annihilator)
1964 – Ralph Garman, American actor and radio personality
1964 – Susan Rice, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
1964 – Mitch Williams, American baseball player
1965 – Amanda Brown, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens)
1966 – Ben Allison, American jazz bassist and composer
1966 – Jeff Buckley, American musician (d. 1997)
1966 – Kate Ceberano, Australian singer
1966 – Richard Fortus, American guitarist (Guns N' Roses)
1966 – Daisy Fuentes, Cuban model and actress
1966 – Sophie Marceau, French actress
1967 – Tab Benoit American musician
1968 – Sean Miller, American basketball coach
1969 – Ryotaro Okiayu, Japanese voice actor
1969 – Rebecca Walker, American feminist writer
1969 – Jean-Michel Saive, Belgian table tennis player
1970 – Paul Allender, British guitarist (Cradle of Filth)
1972 – Kimya Dawson, American singer
1972 – Joanne Goode, English badminton player
1972 – Leonard Roberts, American actor
1973 – Andreas "Vintersorg" Hedlund, Swedish singer (Vintersorg)
1973 – Eli Marrero, American baseball player
1973 – Bernd Schneider, German footballer
1973 – Alexei Urmanov, Russian figure skater
1974 – Leslie Bibb, American actress
1974 – Berto Romero, Spanish humorist
1975 – Kinga Baranowska, Polish mountaineer
1975 – Lord Infamous, American rapper
1975 – Jerome James, American basketball player
1975 – Roland de Marigny, South African-born Italian rugby player
1976 – Jacqueline Aguilera, Venezuelan beauty queen
1976 – Brandon Call, American actor
1976 – Diane Neal, American actress
1977 – Ryk Neethling, South African swimmer
1977 – Paul Shepherd, English footballer
1978 – Glen Air, Australian rugby footballer
1978 – Zoë Bell, New Zealand actress and stuntwoman
1978 – Rachel McAdams, Canadian actress
1978 – Reggie Wayne, American football player
1979 – Matthew Spring, English footballer
1980 – Brad Bradley, American wrestler
1980 – Isaac Hanson, American musician (Hanson)
1980 – Mercedes Martinez, American professional wrestler
1980 – Israel Idonije, Nigerian Canadian NFL football player
1981 – Sarah Harding, English singer (Girls Aloud)
1982 – Lucy Durack, Australian singer
1982 – Katie Feenstra-Mattera, American basketball player
1982 – Otacílio Mariano Neto, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Yusuf Pathan, Indian cricketer
1982 – Hollie Smith, New Zealand singer
1983 – Yiannis Bourousis, Greek basketball player
1983 – Ryan Bradley, American figure skater
1983 – Ryan Braun, American baseball player
1983 – Trevor Crowe, American baseball player
1983 – Harry Lloyd, English actor
1983 – Nick Markakis, American baseball player
1983 – Scott Moore, American baseball player
1983 – Christopher Paolini, American novelist
1984 – Amanda Evora, American figure skater
1984 – Park Han-byul, South Korean actress
1985 – Panbanisha, American chimpanzee (d. 2012)
1986 – Luis Aguiar, Uruguayan footballer
1986 – Fabio Concas, Italian footballer
1986 – Nani, Portuguese footballer
1987 – Gemma Spofforth, British swimmer
1987 – Craig Noone, English Footballer
1990 – Shanica Knowles, American actress
1992 – Darian Weiss, American actor
1994 – Raquel Castro, American actress

Deaths

344 – Jin Kangdi, Chinese emperor (b. 322)
375 – Valentinian I, Roman Emperor (b. 321)
474 – Leo II, Byzantine Emperor (b. 467)
641 – Emperor Jomei of Japan (b. 593)
885 – Queen Liutgard of Saxony (b. c. 845)
1104 – Nikephoros Melissenos, Byzantine general (b. c. 1045)
1231 – Elisabeth of Hungary, Hungarian noble (b. 1207)
1302 – St. Gertrude the Great, German theologian (b. 1256)
1326 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (b. 1285)
1494 – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Italian philosopher (b. 1463)
1558 – Queen Mary I of England (b. 1516)
1558 – Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1500)
1562 – Antoine de Bourbon, French noble (b. 1518)
1592 – King John III of Sweden (b. 1537)
1600 – Kuki Yoshitaka, Japanese naval commander (b. 1542)
1632 – Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim, Bavarian field marshal (b. 1594)
1643 – Jean-Baptiste Budes, Comte de Guébriant, Marshal of France (b. 1602)
1648 – Thomas Ford, English composer
1665 – John Earle, English bishop
1668 – Joseph Alleine, English preacher (b. 1634)
1690 – Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier, French soldier (b. 1610)
1708 – Ludolf Backhuysen, Dutch painter (b. 1631)
1713 – Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1653)
1720 – Calico Jack Rackham, English pirate (b. 1682)
1747 – Alain-René Lesage, French writer (b. 1668)
1768 – Thomas Pelham-Holles, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1693)
1776 – James Ferguson, English astronomer (b. 1710)
1780 – Bernardo Bellotto, Italian painter (b. 1720)
1794 – Jacques François Dugommier, French general (b. 1738)
1796 – Catherine II of Russia, Empress of Russia (b. 1729)
1808 – David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary (b. 1721)
1818 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen consort of King George III (b. 1744)
1835 – Antoine Charles Horace Vernet, French painter (b. 1758)
1849 – Prince Alexander of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst (b. 1794)
1858 – Robert Owen, English activist (b. 1771)
1865 – James McCune Smith, African-American doctor and abolitionist (b. 1813)
1897 – George Hendric Houghton, American clergyman (b. 1820)
1902 – Hugh Price Hughes, Welsh theologian (b. 1847)
1905 – Grand Duke Adolphe of Luxembourg, (b. 1817)
1910 – Ralph Johnstone, American aviator (b. 1886)
1917 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (b. 1840)
1922 – Robert Comtesse, Swiss Federal Councillor (b. 1847)
1928 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author, politician, & freedom fighter (b. 1865)
1929 – Herman Hollerith, American statistician (b. 1860)
1936 – Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Austrian singer (b. 1861)
1937 – Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer (b. 1860)
1938 – Ante Trumbic, Croatian politician (b. 1864)
1940 – Eric Gill, English sculptor (b. 1882)
1940 – Robert Lane, Canadian football player (b. 1882)
1940 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist (b. 1879)
1942 – Ben Reitman, American anarchist, physician (b. 1879)
1947 – Victor Serge, Russian anarchist, novelist, and historian (b. 1890)
1954 – Yitzhak Lamdan, Russian-born Israeli poet and columnist (b. 1899)
1955 – James P. Johnson, American pianist and composer (b. 1894)
1958 – Mort Cooper, American baseball player (b. 1913)
1959 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (b. 1887)
1961 – Michael Rockefeller, American scion (b. 1938)
1968 – Mervyn Peake, British writer (b. 1911)
1973 – Mirra Alfassa, Indian spiritual collaborator (b. 1878)
1976 – Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1880)
1979 – John Glascock, British bassist (Jethro Tull) (b. 1951)
1982 – Leonid Borisovitch Kogan, Russian violinist (b. 1924)
1982 – Duk Koo Kim, Korean boxer (b. 1959)
1982 – Eduard Tubin, Estonian composer (b. 1905)
1986 – Georges Besse, French automobile executive (b. 1927)
1987 – Paul Derringer, American baseball player (b. 1906)
1988 – Sheilah Graham Westbrook, English-born American gossip columnist (b. 1904)
1989 – Gus Farace, American gangster (b. 1960)
1989 – Mary Giatra Lemou, Greek actress (b. 1915)
1990 – Robert Hofstadter, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
1992 – Audre Lorde, Caribbean-American writer, poet, and activist (b. 1934)
1993 – Gérard D. Levesque, Canadian politician (b. 1926)
1995 – Alan Hull, English musician (Lindisfarne) (b. 1945)
1998 – Kea Bouman, Dutch tennis player (b. 1903)
1998 – Esther Rolle, American actress (b. 1920)
2000 – Louis Néel, French physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
2001 – Michael Karoli, German guitarist (b. 1948)
2002 – Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (b. 1915)
2002 – Frank McCarthy, American artist and painter (b. 1924)
2003 – Surjit Bindrakhia, Punjabi artist (b. 1962)
2003 – Arthur Conley, American singer (b. 1946)
2003 – Don Gibson, American singer (b. 1928)
2004 – Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (b. 1970)
2004 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1941)
2005 – Marek Perepeczko, Polish actor (b. 1942)
2006 – Ruth Brown, American blues singer (b. 1928)
2006 – Ferenc Puskás, Hungarian footballer (b. 1927)
2006 – Bo Schembechler, American football coach (b. 1929)
2006 – Flo Sandon's, Italian singer (b. 1924)
2008 – Pete Newell, American basketball coach (b. 1915)
2008 – George Stephen Morrison, American admiral (b. 1919)
2011 – Olin Branstetter, American businessman and politician (b. 1929)
2011 – Kurt Budke, American basketball coach (b. 1961)