today.nukz.net: Almanac November 8

Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American vocalist, musician, songwriter, and producer. Over the course of a career of over three decades, Jones has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, blues, pop, soul, and jazz standards. Her songwriting has been characterized as "a blend of bravado and vulnerability [that] wavers on indefinable borders." She is also known for her unique singing style, especially in live performances. One concert reviewer, describing her rendering of "We Belong Together," states she "reached her apex, skating from swells into near screams into breathy whispers, from pontillist stacatto scats into brassy, trumpetlike bursts."

In 1999, Jones was listed at #30 in the VH1 list of 100 greatest women of rock.

Events

960 – Battle of Andrassos: Byzantines under Leo Phokas the Younger score a crushing victory over the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla
1519 – Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with a great celebration.
1520 – Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces results in the execution of around 100 people.
1576 – Eighty Years' War: Pacification of Ghent – The States-General of the Netherlands meet and unite to oppose Spanish occupation.
1602 – The Bodleian Library at Oxford University is opened to the public.
1605 – Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters, is killed.
1620 – The Battle of White Mountain takes place near Prague, ending in a decisive Catholic victory in only two hours.
1745 – Charles Edward Stuart invades England with an army of ~5000 that would later participate in the Battle of Culloden.
1837 – Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, which later becomes Mount Holyoke College.
1861 – American Civil War: The "Trent Affair" – The USS San Jacinto stops the United Kingdom mail ship Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US.
1889 – Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.
1892 – The New Orleans general strike begins, uniting black and white American trade unionists in a successful four-day general strike action for the first time.
1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.
1901 – Bloody clashes take place in Athens following the translation of the Gospels into demotic Greek.
1917 – The People's Commissars give authority to Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.
1923 – Beer Hall Putsch: In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government.
1933 – Great Depression: New Deal – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than 4 million of the unemployed.
1936 – Spanish Civil War: Francoist troops fail in their effort to capture Madrid, but begin the 3-year Siege of Madrid afterwards.
1937 – The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude ("The Eternal Jew") opens in Munich.
1939 – Venlo Incident: Two British agents of SIS are captured by the Germans.
1939 – In Munich, Adolf Hitler narrowly escapes the assassination attempt of Georg Elser while celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch.
1940 – Greco-Italian War: The Italian invasion of Greece fails as outnumbered Greek units repulse the Italians in the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas.
1942 – World War II: Operation Torch – United States and United Kingdom forces land in French North Africa.
1942 – World War II: French resistance coup in Algiers, in which 400 civilian French patriots neutralize Vichyist XIXth Army Corps after 15 hours of fighting, and arrest several Vichyst generals, allowing the immediate success of Operation Torch in Algiers.
1950 – Korean War: United States Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, while piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down two North Korean MiG-15s in the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight in history.
1957 – Operation Grapple X, Round C1: Britain conducts its first successful hydrogen bomb test over Kiritimati in the Pacific.
1960 – John F. Kennedy defeats Richard Nixon in one of the closest presidential elections of the twentieth century to become the 35th president of the United States.
1965 – The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
1965 – The Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, formally abolishing the death penalty in the United Kingdom.
1965 – The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Operation Hump during the Vietnam War, while the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment fight one of the first set-piece engagements of the war between Australian forces and the Vietcong at the Battle of Gang Toi.
1966 – Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.
1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.
1968 – The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic is signed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by standardising the uniform traffic rules among the signatories.
1971 – Led Zeppelin releases "Led Zeppelin IV," which becomes the third-best-selling album ever in the US.
1973 – The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper together with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay 2.9 million USD.
1976 – A series of earthquakes spreads panic in the city of Thessaloniki, which is evacuated.
1977 – Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.
1987 – Remembrance Day Bombing: A Provisional IRA bomb explodes in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland during a ceremony honouring those who had died in wars involving British forces. Twelve people are killed and sixty-three wounded.
2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: UN Security Council Resolution 1441 – The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a resolution on Iraq, forcing Saddam Hussein to disarm or face "serious consequences".
2004 – War in Iraq: More than 10,000 U.S. troops and a small number of Iraqi army units participate in a siege on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
2011 – The potentially hazardous asteroid 2005 YU55 passed 0.85 lunar distances from Earth (about 324,600 kilometres or 201,700 miles), the closest known approach by an asteroid of its brightness since 2010 XC₁₅ in 1976.

Births

30 – Marcus Cocceius Nerva, Roman Emperor (d. 98)
1342 – Julian of Norwich, English saint (d. 1416)
1491 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian poet (d. 1544)
1622 – King Charles X of Sweden (d. 1660)
1656 – Edmond Halley, British astronomer and mathematician (d. 1742)
1706 – Johann Ulrich von Cramer, German judge and philosopher (d. 1772)
1710 – Sarah Fielding, English writer (d. 1768)
1715 – Elisabeth Christine von Braunschweig-Bevern, wife of Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1797)
1723 – John Byron, British naval officer (d. 1786)
1725 – Johann George Tromlitz, German flautist, flute maker and composer (d. 1805)
1768 – Princess Augusta Sophia of the United Kingdom, (d. 1840)
1777 – Désirée Clary, queen of Sweden (d. 1860)
1788 – Mihály Bertalanits Slovene poet and teacher in Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1853)
1836 – Milton Bradley, American game manufacturer (d. 1911)
1837 – Ilia Chavchavadze, founding father of modern Georgia (d. 1907)
1847 – Jean Casimir-Perier, French politician (d. 1907)
1847 – Bram Stoker, Irish novelist (d. 1912)
1848 – Gottlob Frege, German mathematician and logician (d. 1925)
1854 – Johannes Rydberg, Swedish physicist (d. 1919)
1866 – Herbert Austin, English automobile pioneer (d. 1941)
1868 – Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (d. 1942)
1869 – Zinaida Gippius, Russian woman-poet in exile in France (d. 1945)
1883 – Arnold Bax, English composer (d. 1953)
1884 – Hermann Rorschach, Swiss psychiatrist (d. 1922)
1885 – Hans Cloos, German geologist (d. 1951)
1885 – Eva Morris, British supercentenarian (d.2000)
1885 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (d. 1946)
1885 – Emil Fahrenkamp, German architect (d. 1966)
1888 – David Monrad Johansen, Norwegian composer (d. 1974)
1893 – Clarence Williams, American pianist and composer (d. 1965)
1893 – Prajadhipok, Rama VII, king of Thailand (d. 1941)
1895 – Photios Kontoglou, Greek writer, painter and iconographer (d. 1965)
1896 – Bucky Harris, baseball player (d. 1977)
1897 – Dorothy Day, social activist (d. 1980)
1898 – Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (d. 1937)
1900 – Margaret Mitchell, American author (d. 1949)
1900 – Charley Paddock, American athlete (d. 1943)
1904 – Cedric Belfrage English-born writer (d. 1990)
1908 – Martha Gellhorn, American writer (d. 1998)
1912 – June Havoc, American actress (d. 2010)
1912 – Stylianos Pattakos, Greek army officer and member of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974
1918 – Kazuo Sakamaki, Japanese naval officer (d. 1999)
1918 – Hermann Zapf, German designer
1919 – P. L. Deshpande, Indian author (d. 2000)
1920 – Esther Rolle, American actress (d. 1998)
1920 – Eugênio de Araújo Sales, Brazilian cardinal
1921 – Douglas Townsend, American composer (d. 2012)
1922 – Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon (d. 2001)
1922 – Ademir Marques de Menezes, Brazilian footballer (d. 1996)
1923 – Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)
1924 – Johnny Bower, Canadian ice hockey player
1924 – Joe Flynn, American actor (d. 1974)
1927 – Ken Dodd, English comedian
1927 – Lal Krishna Advani, Indian politician
1927 – Nguyen Khanh, Prime Minister of South Vietnam
1927 – Patti Page, American singer
1927 – Chris Connor, American jazz singer (d. 2009)
1929 – António Castanheira Neves, Portuguese philosopher
1929 – Bobby Bowden, American football coach
1931 – Darla Hood, American actress (d. 1979)
1931 – Morley Safer, American journalist
1932 – Stéphane Audran, French actress
1932 – Ben Bova, American author
1933 – Peter Arundell, British racing driver
1935 – Alain Delon, French actor
1935 – Stratos Dionysiou, Greek singer (d. 1990)
1935 – Alfonso López Trujillo, Colombian Cardinal Bishop (d. 2008)
1936 – Virna Lisi, Italian actress
1938 – Driss Basri, Moroccan Interior Minister (d. 2007)
1942 – Angel Cordero Jr., Puerto Rican jockey
1943 – Martin Peters, English footballer
1944 – Bonnie Bramlett, American singer (Delaney, Bonnie & Friends)
1945 – Arduino Cantafora, Italian architect and painter
1946 – Guus Hiddink, Dutch football coach
1946 – Roy Wood, English songwriter and musician (Electric Light Orchestra, The Move, Wizzard)
1947 – Minnie Riperton, American singer (d. 1979)
1949 – Bonnie Raitt, American singer
1949 – Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association.
1950 – Mary Hart, American television personality
1951 – Alfredo Astiz, Argentine general
1951 – Peter Suber, American academic
1952 – Albert Bittlmayer, German footballer (d. 1977)
1952 – John Denny, American baseball player
1952 – Christie Hefner, CEO of Playboy Enterprises
1952 – Jan Raas, Dutch cyclist
1952 – Jerry Remy, American baseball player, color commentator
1952 – Alfre Woodard, American actress
1953 – Giorgos Foiros, Greek footballer and football manager
1953 – John Musker, American animation director
1954 – David Bret, Anglo-French biographer and broadcaster
1954 – Michael D. Brown, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency director
1954 – Kazuo Ishiguro, British author
1954 – Rickie Lee Jones, American singer
1954 – Jeanette McGruder, American musician (P Funk)
1954 – Thanasis Pafilis, Greek politician
1955 – Patricia Barber, jazz & blues singer, pianist, songwriter
1956 – Steven Miller, American record producer
1956 – Richard Curtis, British screenwriter
1956 – Mari Boine, Norwegian musician who added jazz & rock to the yoiks of the Sami people
1957 – Porl Thompson, British musician (The Cure)
1957 – Alan Curbishley, English football manager
1957 – Hardi Volmer, Estonian theatre and film director and musician
1958 – Don Byron, American clarinetist
1958 – Ken Lamberton, American writer, former teacher, and convicted sex offender
1959 – Chi Chi LaRue, American pornographic producer
1960 – Oleg Menshikov, Russian actor
1960 – Michael Nyqvist, Swedish actor
1961 – Micky Adams, English football manager
1961 – Leif Garrett, American actor and singer
1965 – Jeff Blauser, American baseball player
1965 – Craig Chester, American actor and screenwriter
1966 – Toralf Arndt, German footballer
1966 – Gordon Ramsay, British chef and reality television personality
1966 – Urmas Välbe, Estonian cross-country skier
1967 – Courtney Thorne-Smith, American actress
1967 – Kamar de los Reyes, American actor
1967 – Henry Rodriguez, Dominican Republic baseball player
1968 – Parker Posey, American actress
1968 – Keith Jones, Canadian hockey player
1968 – Zara Whites, Dutch actress
1968 – Sergio Porrini, Italian footballer
1968 – Jose Offerman, Dominican baseball player
1969 – Roxana Zal, American actress
1970 – Tom Anderson, co-founder of Myspace
1970 – José Francisco Porras, Costa Rican footballer
1970 – Diana King, Jamaican singer
1971 – Carlos Atanes, Spanish film director
1971 – Aaron Yates (Tech N9NE), American rapper
1972 – Gretchen Mol, American actress
1974 – Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor
1974 – Masashi Kishimoto, Japanese manga author
1974 – Seishi Kishimoto, Japanese manga author
1974 – Penny Heyns, South African swimmer
1975 – Brevin Knight, American basketball player
1975 – José Pinto, Spanish footballer
1975 – Tara Reid, American actress
1975 – Alena Vašková, Czech tennis player
1975 – Angel Corella, Spanish ballet dancer
1976 – Brett Lee, Australian cricketer
1976 – Colin Strause, American director
1977 – Bucky Covington, American entertainer
1977 – Jully Black, Canadian R&B singer
1977 – Nick Punto, American baseball player
1978 – Ali Karimi, Iranian footballer
1978 – Júlio Sérgio Bertagnoli, Brazilian footballer
1978 – Tim de Cler, Dutch footballer
1978 – Maurice Evans, American basketball player
1978 – Shyne (Moses Michael Leviy), Belizean-born rapper
1979 – Andrea Benatti, Italian rugby player
1979 – Aaron Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
1979 – Dania Ramírez, Dominican actress
1980 – Ana Vidovic, Croatian virtuoso classical guitarist
1980 – Luís Fabiano, Brazilian footballer
1980 – Holly Walsh, British comedian, comedy writer and TV and radio presenter
1980 – Laura Jane Grace (born Tom Gabel), American punk rock musician (Against Me!)
1981 – Joe Cole, English footballer
1981 – Azura Skye, American actress
1981 – Yann Kermorgant, French footballer
1982 – Mika Kallio, Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racer
1982 – Ethan Juan, Taiwanese model and actor
1982 – Lynndie England, former U.S. Army reservist, associated with Abu Ghraib
1982 – Sam Sparro, Australian producer, songwriter, performer, former child actor
1982 – Ted DiBiase Jr., professional wrestler in WWE
1983 – Katharina Molitor, German javelin thrower
1983 – Remko Pasveer, Dutch footballer
1983 – Chris Rankin, New Zealand actor
1983 – Blanka Vlašic, Croatian high jumper
1983 – Pavel Pogrebnyak, Russian footballer
1984 – Steven Webb, English actor
1985 – Jack Osbourne, English television star
1985 – Magda Apanowicz, Canadian actress
1986 – Jamie Roberts, Welsh and British & Irish Lions rugby player
1987 – Sam Bradford, American football player and winner of the 2008 Heisman Trophy
1988 – Jessica Lowndes, Canadian actress
1988 – Lucia Slanicková, Slovak heptathlete
1990 – Anett Griffel, Estonian fashion model
1994 – Lauren Alaina, American singer and American Idol runner-up
1994 – Shane Feldman, Canadian Motivational Speaker, Actor, award winning Founder of "Count Me In"
2003 – Lady Louise Windsor, British royal

Deaths

911 – Louis the Child of the East Franks (b. 893)
955 – Pope Agapetus II
1115 – Godfrey of Amiens (b. 1066)
1171 – Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut (b. 1108)
1195 – Conrad of Hohenstaufen
1226 – King Louis VIII of France (b. 1187)
1246 – Berenguela of Castile, wife of Alfonso IX of Castile (b. 1180)
1308 – Duns Scotus, Scottish philosopher
1517 – Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, Spanish statesman and cardinal (b. 1436)
1527 – Jerome Emser, German theologian (b. 1477)
1599 – Francisco Guerrero, Spanish composer (b. 1528)
1600 – Natsuka Masaie, Japanese warlord (b. 1562)
1605 – Robert Catesby, English conspirator (b. 1573)
1627 – Jahangir, Mughal emperor (b. 1569)
1658 – Witte Corneliszoon de With, Dutch naval officer (b. 1599)
1674 – John Milton, English poet (b. 1608)
1719 – Michel Rolle, French mathematician (b. 1652)
1817 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (b. 1754)
1830 – King Francis I of the Two Sicilies (b. 1777)
1873 – Breton de los Herreros, Spanish playwright (b. 1796)
1887 – Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (b. 1851)
1890 – César Franck, Belgian composer and organist (b. 1822)
1895 – Robert Battey, American surgeon (b. 1828)
1905 – Victor Borisov-Musatov, Russian painter (b. 1870)
1917 – Colin Blythe, English cricketer (b. 1879)
1921 – Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Slovak poet (b. 1849)
1924 – Michele Merlo, American mafia figure (b. 1880)
1934 – Carlos Chagas, Brazilian physician (b. 1879)
1944 – Walter Nowotny, Austrian-born German fighter pilot (b. 1920)
1945 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal (b. 1849)
1949 – Cyriel Verschaeve, Flemish clergyman (b. 1874)
1953 – Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1870)
1953 – John van Melle, South African author (b. 1887)
1959 – Frank Sherman Land, American Freemason (b. 1890)
1965 – Dorothy Kilgallen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1913)
1966 – Bernhard Zondek German-born Israeli gynecologist (b. 1891)
1968 – Wendell Corey, American actor (b. 1914)
1968 – Peter Mohr Dam, Faroese politician, 3rd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1898)
1970 – Huw Thomas Edwards, Welsh trade unionist and politician (b. 1892)
1974 – Ivory Joe Hunter, American R&B singer, pianist and songwriter (b. 1914)
1975 – Jaime Montestrela, Portuguese writer (b. 1925)
1977 – Tasos Giannopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1931)
1977 – Bucky Harris, American baseball player (b. 1896)
1978 – Norman Rockwell, American illustrator (b. 1894)
1979 – Yvonne de Gaulle, wife of Charles de Gaulle (b. 1900)
1983 – Mordecai Kaplan, Lithuanian-born American rabbi and educator (b. 1881)
1983 – James Booker, American jazz singer (b. 1939)
1983 – James Hayden, American actor (b. 1953)
1985 – Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourgish cyclist (b. 1899)
1985 – Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian-born American painter and book illustrator (b. 1915)
1986 – Vyacheslav Molotov, Russian politician (b. 1890)
1992 – Larry Levan, American DJ (b. 1954)
1993 – Andrey Nikolayevich Tychonoff, Russian mathematician (b. 1906)
1994 – Michael O'Donoghue, American writer (b. 1940)
1998 – John Hunt, Baron Hunt, British mountaineer (b. 1910)
1998 – Jean Marais, French actor (b. 1913)
1998 – Rumer Godden, British writer (b. 1907)
1999 – Lester Bowie, American jazz trumpet player (b. 1941)
1999 – Leon Štukelj, Slovenian gymnast (b. 1898)
2001 – Aristidis Moschos, Greek santouri player (b. 1930)
2002 – Jon Elia, Pakistani scholar, poet and philosopher (b. 1931)
2003 – Bob Grant, English actor (b. 1932)
2003 – C. Z. Guest, American socialite (b. 1920)
2003 – Guy Speranza, American singer (Riot) (b. 1956)
2004 – Peter Mathers, English-born Australian novelist (b. 1931)
2005 – David Westheimer, American novelist (b. 1917)
2005 – Alekos Alexandrakis, Greek actor (b. 1928)
2006 – Basil Poledouris, American film score composer (b. 1945)
2006 – Hannspeter Winter, Austrian plasma physicist (b. 1941)
2007 – Dulce Saguisag, Filipino politician and former DSWD Secretary (b. 1943)
2007 – Chad Varah, English humanitarian (b. 1911)
2009 – Vitaly Ginzburg, Russian physicist (b. 1916)
2010 – Emilio Eduardo Massera, Argentine naval officer and National Reorganization Process figure (b. 1925)
2010 – Jack Levine, American painter (b. 1915)
2010 – Quintin Dailey, American basketball player (b. 1961)
2010 – Alex Fagan, American law enforcement official (b. 1950)
2011 – Heavy D, American hip-hop artist. (b. 1967)
2011 – Bil Keane, American cartoonist (b. 1922)