today.nukz.net: Almanac December 14

Tycho Brahe (14 December 1546 – 24 October 1601), born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. He was born in Scania, then part of Denmark, now part of modern-day Sweden. Tycho was well known in his lifetime as an astronomer and alchemist.

In his De nova stella (On the new star) of 1573, he refuted the Aristotelian belief in an unchanging celestial realm. His precise measurements indicated that "new stars" (stellae novae, now known as supernovae), in particular that of 1572, lacked the parallax expected in sub-lunar phenomena, and were therefore not "atmospheric" tail-less comets as previously believed, but occurred above the atmosphere and moon. Using similar measurements he showed that comets were also not atmospheric phenomena, as previously thought, and must pass through the supposedly "immutable" celestial spheres.

As an astronomer, Tycho worked to combine what he saw as the geometrical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical benefits of the Ptolemaic system into his own model of the universe, the Tychonic system. Furthermore, he was the last of the major naked eye astronomers, working without telescopes for his observations.

Events

557 – Constantinople is severely damaged by an earthquake.
1287 – St. Lucia's flood: The Zuiderzee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.
1542 – Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.
1751 – The Theresian Military Academy is founded as the first Military Academy in the world.
1782 – The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight.
1812 – The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia.
1814 – War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
1819 – Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. state.
1836 – The Toledo War unofficially ends.
1896 – The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
1900 – Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law.
1902 – The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.
1903 – The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1907 – The schooner Thomas W. Lawson runs aground and founders near the Hellweather's Reef within the Isles of Scilly in a gale. The pilot and 15 seamen die.
1909 – New South Wales Premier Charles Wade signed the Seat of Government Surrender Act 1909, formally completing the transfer of State land to the Commonwealth to create the Australian Capital Territory.
1911 – Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
1913 – Haruna, the fourth and last ship of the Kongo-class, launches, eventually becoming one of the Japanese workhorses during World War I and World War II.
1914 – Lisandro de la Torre and others found the Democratic Progressive Party (Partido Demócrata Progresista, PDP) at the Hotel Savoy, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1918 – Friedrich Karl von Hessen, a German prince elected by the Parliament of Finland to become King Väinö I, renounces the Finnish throne.
1918 – President of Portugal Sidónio Pais is assassinated.
1939 – Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.
1941 – World War II: Japan signs treaty of alliance with Thailand.
1946 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York, New York.
1955 – Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations.
1958 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first expedition to reach The Pole of Relative Inaccessibility in the Antarctic.
1961 – Tanzania joins the United Nations.
1962 – NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
1963 – Baldwin Hills Reservoir wall bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California.
1964 – American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States – The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the U.S. Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination.
1971 – Over 200 of East Pakistan's (now Bangladesh) intellectuals are massacred by the Pakistan Army and their local allies.
1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
1981 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset passes The Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the area of the Golan Heights.
1983 – The 3rd Congress of the Communist Youth of Greece starts.
1988 – The ET3 television network is launched in Thessaloniki, Greece.
1992 – War in Abkhazia: During the Siege of Tkvarcheli, a helicopter carrying evacuees from Tkvarcheli, Abkhazia, Georgia is shot down, resulting in at least 52 deaths, 25 of which are children. The incident catalyses more concerted Russian military intervention on behalf of Abkhazia.
1994 – Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.
1995 – Yugoslav Wars: The Dayton Agreement is signed in Paris, France by leaders of various governments.
1999 – Torrential rains cause flash floods in Vargas, Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the complete collapse of the state's infrastructure.
2003 – President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.
2004 – The Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened.
2004 – Cuba and Venezuela found the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.
2006 – American spy satellite USA-193 is launched.
2008 – President George W. Bush makes his fourth and final (planned) trip to Iraq as president and is almost struck by two shoes thrown at him by Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi during a news conference in Baghdad.

Births

1009 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (d. 1045)
1503 – Nostradamus, French astrologer (d. 1566)
1546 – Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and alchemist (d. 1601)
1607 – János Kemény, Hungarian aristocrat, writer and prince of Transylvania (d. 1662)
1625 – Barthélemy d'Herbelot de Molainville, French orientalist (d. 1695)
1631 – Anne Conway, Viscountess Conway, English philosopher (d. 1679)
1640 – (baptism date) – Aphra Behn, English playwright and novelist (d. 1689)
1678 – Daniel Neal, English historian (d. 1743)
1720 – Justus Möser, German statesman (d. 1794)
1730 – Capel Bond, English organist and composer (d. 1790)
1738 – Jan Antonín Koželuh, Bohemian composer (d. 1814)
1775 – Philander Chase, American founder of Kenyon College (d. 1852)
1775 – Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (d. 1860)
1784 – Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily, Princess of Asturias (d. 1806)
1787 – Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este, Empress of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1816)
1791 – Charles Wolfe, Irish poet (d. 1823)
1794 – Erastus Corning, American businessman and politician (d. 1872)
1824 – Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, French painter (d. 1898)
1852 – Daniel De Leon, South American socialist (d. 1914)
1853 – Errico Malatesta, Italian anarcho-communist (d. 1932)
1866 – Roger Fry, English artist and art critic (d. 1934)
1870 – Karl Renner, President of Austria (d. 1950)
1881 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and film producer (d. 1956)
1881 – Howard Valentine, American track and field athlete (d. 1932)
1883 – Manolis Kalomiris, Greek classical composer (d. 1962)
1883 – Ueshiba Morihei, Japan founder of the aikido (d. 1969)
1884 – Jane Cowl, American actress and playwright (d. 1950)
1895 – Paul Eluard, French poet (d. 1952)
1895 – King George VI of the United Kingdom (d. 1952)
1896 – Jimmy Doolittle, American General (d. 1993)
1897 – Margaret Chase Smith, American politician (d. 1995)
1897 – Kurt Schuschnigg, Austrian politician (d. 1977)
1901 – Paul, king of Greece (d. 1964)
1902 – Frances Bavier, American actress (d. 1989)
1908 – Morey Amsterdam, American comedian and actor (d. 1996)
1908 – Claude Davey, Welsh rugby union footballer (d. 2001)
1908 – Mária Szepes, Hungarian author (d. 2007)
1909 – Edward Tatum, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 1975)
1911 – Spike Jones, American comedian and musician (d. 1965)
1911 – Hans von Ohain, German/American aerospace engineer (d. 1998)
1913 – Dan Dailey, American actor (d. 1978)
1914 – Karl Carstens, President of Germany (d. 1992)
1914 – Attila Petschauer, Hungarian fencer (d. 1943)
1914 – Rosalyn Tureck, American pianist and harpsichordist (d. 2003)
1914 – Nam Phuong, Emperor of Vietnam (d. 1963)
1916 – Shirley Jackson, American writer (d. 1965)
1917 – C.-H. Hermansson, Swedish communist leader
1917 – Elyse Knox, American actress (d. 2012)
1917 – June Taylor, American choreographer (d. 2004)
1918 – James T. Aubrey, American television executive (d. 1994)
1918 – Radu Beligan, Romanian actor
1918 – B.K.S. Iyengar, Indian yoga advocate
1920 – Clark Terry, American trumpeter
1922 – Nikolay Basov, Soviet physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 2001)
1922 – Don Hewitt, American creator of 60 Minutes (d. 2009)
1922 – Junior J. Spurrier, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1984)
1923 – Gerard Reve, Dutch writer (d. 2006)
1924 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor (d. 1988)
1925 – Sam Jones, American baseball player (d. 1971)
1927 – Richard Cassilly, American tenor (d. 1998)
1931 – Jon Elia, Pakistani scholar, poet and philosopher (d. 2002)
1931 – Vladimir-Georg Karassev-Orgussaar, Estonian film director
1932 – Abbe Lane, American singer and actress
1932 – Charlie Rich, American musician (d. 1995)
1934 – Shyam Benegal. Indian Film Director
1935 – Lewis Arquette, American film actor, writer and producer (d. 2001)
1935 – Lee Remick, American actress (d. 1991)
1938 – Leonardo Boff, Brazilian theologian
1938 – Hal Williams, American actor
1939 – Ernie Davis, American football player (d. 1963)
1940 – Lex Gold, Scottish football administrator
1941 – Karan Armstrong, American soprano
1941 – Ellen Willis, American journalist (d. 2006)
1943 – R. Emmett Tyrrell, American magazine publisher
1946 – Jane Birkin, English-born French actress and singer
1946 – Patty Duke, American actress
1946 – Ruth Fuchs, East German athlete
1946 – Michael Ovitz, American film producer
1946 – Stan Smith, American tennis player
1946 – Joyce Vincent Wilson, American singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
1947 – Christopher Parkening, American guitarist
1947 – Linda Sutton, English artist
1947 – Dilma Rousseff, current President of Brazil
1948 – Kim Beazley, Australian politician
1948 – Dee Wallace, American actress
1949 – Bill Buckner, American baseball player
1949 – Cliff Williams, English bassist (AC/DC)
1951 – Jan Timman, Dutch chess grandmaster
1951 – Paul Zaloom, American actor and puppeteer
1952 – John Lurie, American actor, musician, painter, director and producer
1952 – Germain Houde, French Canadian actor
1953 – Vijay Amritraj, Indian tennis player
1953 – Wade Davis, Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author and photographer
1953 – René Eespere, Soviet-Estonian composer
1953 – Vangelis Meimarakis, Greek lawyer and politician
1953 – Mikael Odenberg, Swedish politician
1954 – James Horan, American actor
1954 – Alan Kulwicki, American race car driver (d. 1993)
1954 – Steven MacLean, Canadian astronaut
1956 – Linda Fabiani, Scottish MSP
1956 – Hanni Wenzel, Liechtenstein skier
1958 – Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Waterboys)
1958 – Spider Stacy, English musician (The Pogues)
1958 – François Zocchetto, French politician
1959 – Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and gay rights advocate
1959 – Jorge Vaca, Mexican boxer
1960 – Don Franklin, American actor
1960 – Chris Waddle, English footballer
1961 – Patrik Sundstrom, Swedish ice hockey player
1962 – Ginger Lynn (Ginger Lynn Allen), American adult film actress
1963 – Greg Abbott, English former football player
1963 – Cynthia Gibb, American actress
1963 – Vytautas Juozapaitis, Lithuanian baritone, pedagogue (professor) and TV host
1963 – Michael Moloney, American television personality and interior designer
1963 – Alice Ripley American actress
1963 – Mario Yamasaki, Mixed martial arts referee
1965 – Craig Biggio, American baseball player
1965 – Ken Hill, American baseball player
1965 – Ted Raimi, American actor
1966 – Fabrizio Giovanardi, Italian racecar driver
1966 – Anthony Mason, American basketball player
1966 – Bill Ranford, Canadian ice hockey player
1966 – Tim Sköld, Swedish/American musician
1967 – Ewa Bialolecka, Polish writer
1968 – Noelle Beck, American actress
1969 – Scott Hatteberg, American baseball player
1969 – Archie Kao, American actor
1969 – Natascha McElhone, English actress
1970 – Nadine Garner, Australian actress
1970 – Anna Maria Jopek, Polish singer
1970 – Beth Orton, English singer-songwriter
1971 – Brian Gay, professional golfer
1971 – Tia Texada, American actress and singer
1971 – Michaela Watkins, American comic actress
1972 – Eric Anderson, American actor
1972 – Miranda Hart, British comedienne
1972 – Marcus Jensen, American baseball player
1973 – Pat Burke, Irish basketball player
1973 – Amanda Byram, Irish television presenter
1973 – Tomasz Radzinski, Polish-Canadian soccer player
1973 – Thuy Trang, American actress (d. 2001)
1974 – Billy Koch, American baseball player
1974 – Joe Principe, American musician (Rise Against)
1975 – Justin Furstenfeld, American rock singer
1975 – KaDee Strickland, American actress
1976 – Tammy Blanchard, American actress
1976 – Leland Chapman, American bounty hunter
1976 – Sebastien Chaule, French-German rugby player
1976 – André Couto, Portuguese race car driver
1976 – Santiago Ezquerro, Spanish footballer
1977 – Marvin Lambert, American wrestler (d. 2012)
1977 – Jamie Peacock, English rugby player
1978 – Dean Brogan, Australian rules footballer
1978 – Zdenek Pospech, Czech footballer
1978 – Kim St-Pierre, Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Radu Sîrbu, Moldovan singer (O-Zone)
1978 – Patty Schnyder, Swiss tennis player
1979 – Jean-Alain Boumsong, French footballer
1979 – Michael Owen, English footballer
1979 – Sophie Monk, Australian actress, singer, and model
1980 – Gordon Greer, Scottish footballer
1980 – Tata Young, Thai-American singer
1980 – Didier Zokora, Ivorian footballer
1981 – Amber Chia, Malaysian model and actress
1981 – Émilie Heymans, Canadian diver
1981 – Johnny Jeter, American professional wrestler
1981 – Shaun Marcum, American baseball player
1982 – Josh Fields, American baseball player
1982 – Steve Sidwell, English footballer
1982 – Anthony Way, English singer and actor
1984 – Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer
1984 – Krissy Lynn, American pornographic actress
1984 – Ed Rainsford, Zimbabwean cricketer
1984 – Rana Daggubati,Indian actor,Producer
1984 – Jackson Rathbone, American actor and musician
1985 – Jakub Blaszczykowski, Polish footballer
1985 – Julio Pimentel, Dominican baseball player
1985 – Paul Rabil, Professional lacrosse player
1985 – Tom Smith, Welsh rugby union footballer
1985 – Nonami Takizawa, Japanese actress
1986 – Jang Jae Ho, South Korean electronic sports player
1987 – Alexander Gaskarth, American singer (All Time Low)
1987 – Kenneth Medwood, Belizean hurdler
1988 – Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
1988 – Vanessa Hudgens, American singer and actress
1988 – Hayato Sakamoto, Japanese baseball player
1989 – Pedro Silva, Brazilian footballer
1989 – Onew, South Korean singer (Shinee), musical actor and TV host
1992 – Ryo Miyaichi, Japanese footballer
1994 – Joshua Dionisio, Filipino actor

Deaths

1460 – Guarino da Verona (b. 1370)
1476 – Vlad III the Impaler (b. 1431)
1510 – Friedrich of Saxony (b. 1473)
1542 – King James V of Scotland (b. 1512)
1553 – Hanibal Lucic, Croatian writer (b. 1485)
1591 – Saint John of the Cross, Spanish friar and poet (b. 1542)
1624 – Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, English statesman (b. 1536)
1651 – Pierre Dupuy, French scholar (b. 1582)
1713 – Thomas Rymer, English historian (b. 1641)
1715 – Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1636)
1735 – Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (b. 1674)
1741 – Charles Rollin, French historian (b. 1661)
1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer (b. 1714)
1788 – King Charles III of Spain (b. 1716)
1799 – George Washington, First President of the United States (b. 1732)
1831 – Martin Baum, American businessman and politician (b. 1765)
1838 – Jean-Olivier Chénier, French Canadian physician (b. 1806)
1860 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, British statesman (b. 1784)
1861 – Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria (b. 1819)
1865 – Johan Georg Forchhammer, Danish geologist (b. 1794)
1873 – Louis Agassiz, Swiss-born American zoologist and geologist (b. 1807)
1878 – Alice of the United Kingdom, Grand Duchess of Hesse (b. 1843)
1902 – Julia Dent-Grant, wife of Ulysses S. Grant (b. 1826)
1912 – Belgrave Edward Sutton Ninnis, British Army lieutenant (b. 1887)
1920 – George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895)
1927 – Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski, Russian mathematician (b. 1842)
1935 – Stanley G. Weinbaum, American science-fiction author (b. 1902)
1937 – Fabian de la Rosa, Filipino painter (b. 1869)
1940 – Anton Korošec, Slovenian political leader (b. 1872)
1943 – John Harvey Kellogg, American surgeon and breakfast food manufacturer (b. 1852)
1947 – Stanley Baldwin, British statesman (b. 1867)
1947 – Edward Higgins, American evangelical (b. 1864)
1953 – Marjorie Rawlings, American author (b. 1896)
1954 – Emil Rausch, German freestyle swimmer (b. 1883)
1956 – Juho Kusti Paasikivi, Finnish politician (b. 1870)
1957 – Fred Chapman, American baseball player (b. 1872)
1963 – Otto Fickeisen, German rower (b. 1879)
1963 – Dinah Washington, American singer (b. 1924)
1964 – William Bendix, American actor (b. 1906)
1966 – Shailendra, Indian lyricist (b. 1923)
1970 – Franz Schlegelberger, German Nazi politician (b. 1876)
1971 – Dick Tiger, Nigerian boxer (b. 1929)
1974 – Walter Lippmann, American journalist and political commentator (b. 1889)
1975 – Arthur Treacher, English actor (b. 1894)
1978 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish diplomat (b. 1886)
1980 – Elston Howard, American baseball player (b. 1929)
1984 – Vicente Aleixandre, Spanish writer and Nobel laureate (b. 1898)
1985 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian social activist (b. 1896)
1985 – Roger Maris, American baseball player (b. 1934)
1989 – Jock Mahoney, American actor and stuntman (b. 1919)
1989 – Andrei D. Sakharov, Russian physicist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1921)
1990 – Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (b. 1921)
1993 – Jeff Alm, American football player (b. 1968)
1993 – Myrna Loy, American actress (b. 1905)
1994 – Orval Faubus, American politician (b. 1910)
1996 – Gaston Miron, French-Canadian poet and editor (b. 1928)
1997 – Stubby Kaye, American actor (b. 1918)
1997 – Kurt Winter, Canadian musician (The Guess Who) (b. 1946)
1998 – Norman Fell, American actor (b. 1924)
1998 – Aloyisus Leon Higginbotham, Jr., American civil rights activist and author (b. 1928)
1998 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist (b. 1924)
2001 – W. G. Sebald, German writer (b. 1944)
2003 – Jeanne Crain, American actress (b. 1925)
2003 – Blas Ople, Filipino diplomat (b. 1927)
2003 – Frank Sheeran, American labor union official (b. 1920)
2004 – Rod Kanehl, American baseball player (b. 1934)
2004 – Fernando Poe, Jr., Filipino actor and politician (b. 1939)
2005 – Trevanian, American author (b. 1931)
2006 – Anton Balasingham, Sri Lankan political strategist (b. 1938)
2006 – Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-born American music executive (b. 1923)
2006 – Mike Evans, American actor (b. 1949)
2009 – Alan A'Court, English footballer (b. 1934)
2010 – Timothy Davlin, American politician (b. 1957)
2010 – Neva Patterson, American actress (b. 1920)
2010 – Dale Roberts, English footballer (b. 1986)
2011 – Joe Simon, American comic book artist (b. 1913)