today.nukz.net: Almanac November 18

Imogene Fernandez de Coca (November 18, 1908 - June 2, 2001) was an American comic actress best known for her role opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows.

Starting out in vaudeville as a child acrobat, she studied ballet and wished to have a serious career in music and dance, graduating to decades of stage musical revues, cabaret and summer stock. Finally in her 40s she began a celebrated career as a comedienne in television, starring in six series and guesting on successful television programs from the 1940s to the 1990s.

She was nominated for five Emmy awards for Your Show of Shows, winning Best Actress in 1951 and singled out for a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting in 1953. Coca was also nominated for a Tony Award in 1978 for On the Twentieth Century and received a sixth Emmy nomination at the age of 80 for an episode of Moonlighting.

Events

326 – The old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
401 – The Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, cross the Alps and invade northern Italy.
1105 – Maginulfo is elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV.
1180 – Phillip II becomes king of France.
1210 – Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
1302 – Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Unam sanctam (One Faith).
1307 – William Tell shoots an apple off his son's head.
1421 – A seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands breaks, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people. This event will be known as Sint-Elisabethsvloed.
1493 – Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico.
1494 – French King Charles VIII occupies Florence, Italy.
1601 – Tiryaki Hasan Pasha, provincial governor of Ottoman Empire, utterly defeats Habsburg forces, commanded by Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria during the Siege of Nagykanizsa.
1626 – St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated.
1686 – Charles Francois Felix operates on King Louis XIV of France's anal fistula after practicing the surgery on several peasants.
1730 – Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, is granted a royal pardon and released from confinement.
1803 – The Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, is fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere.
1809 – In a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeat British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal.
1863 – King Christian IX of Denmark decides to sign the November constitution that declares Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This is seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and leads to the German–Danish war of 1864.
1865 – Mark Twain's short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press.
1883 – American and Canadian railroads institute five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times.
1903 – The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty is signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone.
1904 – General Esteban Huertas steps down after the government of Panama fears he wants to stage a coup.
1905 – Prince Carl of Denmark becomes King Haakon VII of Norway.
1909 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.
1916 – World War I: First Battle of the Somme – in France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig calls off the battle which started on July 1, 1916.
1918 – Latvia declares its independence from Russia.
1926 – George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize".
1928 – Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is also considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday.
1929 – 1929 Grand Banks earthquake: off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula.
1930 – Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Soka Gakkai, is founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and Josei Toda.
1938 – Trade union members elect John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.
1940 – New York City's "Mad Bomber" George Metesky places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison.
1943 – World War II– Battle of Berlin: 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew.
1944 – The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba
1947 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand.
1949 – The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria.
1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service.
1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
1978 – In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple cult to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan is murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier.
1987 – Iran-Contra Affair: the U.S. Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra Affair.
1987 – King's Cross fire: in London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras.
1988 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.
1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland.
1991 – After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces.
1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified by the House of Representatives.
1993 – In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution.
1999 – In College Station, Texas, 12 are killed and 27 injured at Texas A&M University when the 59-foot-tall (18 m) Aggie Bonfire, under construction for the annual football game against the University of Texas, collapses at 2:42am.
2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq.
2003 – In the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, becomes effective.

Births

1522 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont, Flemish general and statesman (d. 1568)
1630 – Empress Eleanor Gonzaga of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1686)
1647 – Pierre Bayle, French philosopher (d. 1706)
1727 – Philibert Commerçon, French naturalist (d. 1773)
1736 – Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, German composer and harpsichordist (d. 1800)
1756 – Thomas Burgess, English author, philosopher and religious figure (d. 1837)
1772 – Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (d. 1806)
1774 – Princess Wilhelmine of Prussia, Queen of the Netherlands (d. 1837)
1785 – Sir David Wilkie, Scottish painter (d. 1841)
1786 – Carl Maria von Weber, German composer (d. 1826)
1787 – Louis-Jacques Daguerre, French inventor and photographer (d. 1851)
1804 – Alfonso Ferrero la Marmora, Italian general and statesman (d. 1878)
1810 – Asa Gray, American botanist (d. 1888)
1832 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-born Swedish explorer (d. 1901)
1836 – Sir W. S. Gilbert, British dramatist (d. 1911)
1839 – August Kundt, German physicist (d. 1894)
1856 – Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (d. 1929)
1861 – Dorothy Dix, American journalist (d. 1951)
1874 – Clarence Day, American writer (d. 1935)
1880 – Naum Torbov, Bulgarian architect (d. 1952)
1882 – Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian soprano (d. 1963)
1882 – Jacques Maritain, French philosopher (d. 1973)
1883 – Carl Vinson, American politician (d. 1981)
1886 – Ferenc Münnich, Hungarian Communist politician (d. 1967)
1889 – Stanislav Kosior, Polish-born Soviet politician (d. 1939)
1897 – Patrick Blackett, British physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1974)
1898 – Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (d. 1989)
1899 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-born American violinist and conductor (d. 1985)
1901 – George Gallup, American statistician and pollster (d. 1984)
1901 – V. Shantaram, Indian filmmaker and actor (d. 1984)
1904 – Alan Lennox-Boyd, 1st Viscount Boyd of Merton, British politician (d. 1983)
1904 – Jean Paul Lemieux, Quebec painter (d. 1990)
1906 – Klaus Mann, German writer (d. 1949)
1906 – George Wald, American scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1997)
1906 – Alec Issigonis, Greek-born British car designer (d. 1988)
1907 – Gustav Nezval, Czech actor (d. 1998)
1907 – Compay Segundo, Cuban guitarist, singer and composer (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2003)
1908 – Imogene Coca, American actress and comedian (d. 2001)
1909 – Johnny Mercer, American lyricist (d. 1976)
1911 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and writer (d. 2000)
1912 – Hilda Nickson, née Hilda Pressley, British novelist (d. 1977)
1913 – Endre Rozsda, French surrealist painter (d. 1999)
1914 – Haguroyama Masaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 36th Yokozuna (d. 1969)
1915 – Ken Burkhart, American baseball player and umpire (d. 2004)
1917 – Pedro Infante, Mexican actor and singer (d. 1957)
1918 – Sir Tasker Watkins, Welsh Victoria Cross recipient and rugby administrator (d. 2007)
1919 – Jocelyn Brando, American actress (d. 2005)
1919 – Georgia Carroll, American singer, fashion model, and actress (d. 2011)
1920 – Mustafa Khalil, 77th Prime Minister of Egypt (d. 2008)
1922 – Luis Somoza Debayle, 70th President of Nicaragua (d. 1967)
1923 – Anne Sargent, American actress
1923 – Alan Shepard, American astronaut (d. 1998)
1923 – Ted Stevens, American politician (d. 2010)
1924 – Alexander Mackenzie Stuart, Scottish jurist (d. 2000)
1924 – Les Lye, Canadian actor (d. 2009)
1925 – Gene Mauch, American baseball manager (d. 2005)
1927 – Hank Ballard, American rhythm 'n blues singer and songwriter (d. 2003)
1928 – Otar Gordeli, Georgian composer (d. 1994)
1928 – Salvador Laurel, Filipino politician (d. 2004)
1928 – Sheila Jordan, American jazz singer
1929 – Gianna D'Angelo, American soprano
1929 – Joey Forman, American comedian and comic actor (d. 1982)
1932 – Nasif Estéfano, Argentine racing driver (d. 1973)
1932 – Danny McDevitt, American baseball player (d. 2010)
1933 – Bruce Conner, American artist and filmmaker (d. 2008)
1934 – Vassilis Vassilikos, Greek writer and ambassador
1935 – Rudolf Bahro, German dissident (d. 1997)
1935 – William Cullen, Scottish senior members of the Scottish judiciary
1935 – Rodney Hall, Australian author
1936 – Don Cherry, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1995)
1936 – Ennio Antonelli, Italian cardinal
1939 – Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, critic and essayist
1939 – Amanda Lear, Hong Kong-born French singer, TV presenter and model
1939 – Brenda Vaccaro, American actress
1940 – Qaboos bin Said al Said, Sultan of Oman
1941 – David Hemmings, British actor (d. 2003)
1942 – Linda Evans, American actress
1942 – Susan Sullivan, American actress
1943 – Leonardo Sandri, Argentine Catholic Cardinal
1944 – Wolfgang Joop, German artist and fashion designer
1945 – Wilma Mankiller, American tribal chief (d. 2010)
1945 – Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka
1946 – Alan Dean Foster, American writer
1947 – Timothy Maude, American Lieutenant General (d. 2001)
1947 – Jameson Parker, American actor
1948 – Andrea Marcovicci, American singer and actress
1948 – Jack Tatum, American football player (d. 2010)
1949 – Ahmed Zaki, Egyptian actor (d. 2005)
1950 – Dennis Haskins, American actor
1950 – Eric Pierpoint, American actor
1950 – Rudy Sarzo, Cuban-born American bassist (Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne's band, Whitesnake, Dio, Blue Öyster Cult)
1951 – Justin Raimondo, American author
1952 – Peter Beattie, Australian politician
1952 – Claudio Capone, Italian-born Scottish voice actor (d. 2008)
1952 – Delroy Lindo, British actor
1953 – Alan Moore, British comic book writer and novelist
1953 – Kevin Nealon, American comedian and actor
1954 – Evan Gray, New Zealand cricketer
1954 – John Parr, British pop singer
1955 – Carter Burwell, American composer
1955 – Michael Zimmer, German footballer
1956 – Noel Brotherston, Northern Irish footballer (d. 1995)
1956 – Warren Moon, American football player
1957 – Seán Mac Falls, Irish poet
1958 – Daniel Brailovsky, Argentine football manager
1958 – Plamen Krastev, Bulgarian hurdler
1958 – Oscar Nunez, Cuban-born American actor
1959 – Jimmy Quinn, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
1959 – Cindy Blackman, American jazz and rock drummer
1959 – Ulrich Noethen, German actor
1959 – Karla Faye Tucker, first woman to be executed in the United States since 1984 (d. 1998)
1960 – Elizabeth Perkins, American actress
1960 – Shari Shattuck, American actress and author
1960 – Kim Wilde, British singer
1961 – Nick Chinlund, American actor
1961 – Steven Moffat, Scottish television writer and producer
1961 – Jan Kuehnemund, American hard rock guitarist
1962 – Kirk Hammett, American guitarist (Metallica)
1962 – Jamie Moyer, American baseball player
1962 – Bart Bryant, American golfer
1963 – Len Bias, American basketball player (d. 1986)
1963 – Dante Bichette, American baseball player
1963 – Peter Schmeichel, Danish footballer
1963 – Joost Zwagerman, Dutch writer
1964 – Rita Cosby, American journalist
1965 – Tim DeLaughter, American singer and songwriter (Tripping Daisy, The Polyphonic Spree)
1967 – Tom Gordon, American baseball player
1967 – Jocelyn Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
1967 – Gavin Peacock, British Football player
1968 – Barry Hunter, Northern Irish footballer and manager
1968 – Romany Malco, American actor and music producer
1968 – Gary Sheffield, American baseball player
1968 – Owen Wilson, American actor and film-writer
1969 – Sam Cassell, American basketball player
1969 – Ahmed Helmi, Egyptian actor
1969 – Duncan Sheik, American singer and songwriter
1970 – Elizabeth Anne Allen, American actress
1970 – Mike Epps, American comedian
1970 – Megyn Kelly, American television news anchor
1970 – Johan Liiva, Swedish vocalist (Arch Enemy)
1970 – Peta Wilson, Australian actress
1972 – Jessi Alexander, American country music singer and songwriter
1972 – Jeroen Straathof, Dutch skater
1973 – Nic Pothas, South African cricket wicket-keeper
1974 – Chloë Sevigny, American actress
1975 – Shawn Camp, American baseball player
1975 – Anthony McPartlin, British actor, television presenter
1975 – Dirk Müller, German race car driver
1975 – Pastor Troy, American rapper
1975 – Jason Williams, American basketball player
1975 – David Ortiz, Professional Baseball Player
1976 – Sage Francis, American musician
1976 – Paulo César Pérez, Argentine footballer
1976 – Shagrath, Norwegian singer (Dimmu Borgir)
1976 – Matt Welsh, Australian swimmer
1976 – Mona Zaki, Egyptian actress
1977 – Trent Barrett, Australian rugby league footballer
1977 – Charles A. Lee, American athlete
1977 – Fabolous, American rapper
1978 – Damien Johnson, Northern Irish footballer
1980 – Luke Chadwick, English footballer
1980 – Minori Chihara, Japanese voice actress and singer
1980 – François Duval, Belgian rally driver
1980 – Hamza al-Ghamdi, Saudi terrorist (d. 2001)
1980 – Denny Hamlin, American race car driver
1980 – Dustin Kensrue, American singer (Thrice)
1980 – Junichi Okada, Japanese singer (V6)
1980 – Mathew Baynton, English actor and writer
1981 – Shin Ji, Korean singer
1981 – Gian Magdangal, Filipino singer and actor
1981 – Nasim Pedrad, Iranian-born American comedienne
1981 – Vittoria Puccini, Italian actress
1981 – Christina Vidal, American actress
1982 – Greg Estandia, American football player
1983 – Travis Buck, American baseball player
1983 – Jon Johansen, Norwegian software developer
1983 – Michael Dawson, English footballer
1984 – Ryohei Chiba, Japanese singer (W-inds)
1984 – Johnny Christ, American bassist (Avenged Sevenfold)
1985 – Allyson Felix, American sprinter
1985 – Christian Siriano, American fashion designer
1986 – Nic Sampson, New Zealand actor
1987 – Jake Abel, American actor
1988 – Montanna Thompson, English actress
1988 – Michael Roach, American soccer player
1989 – Natalie Osman, American professional wrestler and valet
1991 – Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, Thai tennis player
1992 – Nathan Kress, American actor
1992 – Steven Skrzybski, German footballer

Deaths

1154 – Adélaide de Maurienne, queen consort of King Louis VI of France (b. 1092)
1305 – John II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1239)
1559 – Cuthbert Tunstall, English churchman (b. 1474)
1590 – George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, English statesman (b. 1528)
1724 – Bartolomeu de Gusmão, Portuguese naturalist (b. 1685)
1785 – Louis Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, French soldier and writer (b. 1725)
1797 – Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder and merchant (b. 1719)
1814 – William Jessop, British civil engineer (b. 1745)
1852 – Rose Philippine Duchesne French Catholic nun and saint (b. 1769)
1886 – Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)
1889 – William Allingham, Irish poet (b. 1824 or 1828)
1909 – Renée Vivien, English-born French poet (b. 1877)
1922 – Marcel Proust, French novelist (b. 1871)
1940 – Ivane Javakhishvili, Georgian historian (b. 1876)
1941 – Walther Nernst, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1864)
1941 – Chris Watson, 3rd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1867)
1941 – Émile Nelligan, Quebec poet (b. 1879)
1952 – Paul Eluard, French poet (b. 1895)
1962 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1885)
1965 – Henry A. Wallace, 33rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1888)
1969 – Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American businessman (b. 1888)
1969 – Ted Heath, British trombonist, and bandleader (b. 1902)
1972 – Danny Whitten, American musician (Crazy Horse) (b. 1943)
1976 – Man Ray, American-born French photographer and painter (b. 1890)
1977 – Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (b. 1897)
1977 – Victor Francen, Belgian actor (b. 1888)
1978 – Jim Jones, American cult figure (Peoples Temple) (b. 1931)
1978 – Leo Ryan, American politician (b. 1925)
1979 – Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player (b. 1901)
1980 – Conn Smythe, Canadian ice hockey administrator and racing horse owner (b. 1895)
1984 – Mary Hamman, American writer and editor (b. 1907)
1986 – Gia Carangi, American model (b. 1960)
1987 – Jacques Anquetil, French cyclist (b. 1934)
1991 – Gustáv Husák, Slovak-born Czech politician (b. 1913)
1994 – Cab Calloway, American bandleader (b. 1907)
1994 – Peter Ledger, Australian illustrator (b. 1945)
1998 – Tara Singh Hayer, Canadian journalist (b. 1936)
1999 – Paul Bowles, American novelist (b. 1910)
1999 – Doug Sahm, American musician (Sir Douglas Quintet, Flaco Jiménez) (b. 1941)
2002 – James Coburn, American actor (b. 1928)
2003 – Michael Kamen, American composer (b. 1948)
2004 – Cy Coleman, American composer, songwriter and pianist (b. 1929)
2005 – Harold J. Stone, American actor (b. 1911)
2009 – Red Robbins, American basketball player (b. 1944)
2010 – Brian G. Marsden, British astronomer (b. 1937)