today.nukz.net: 02/12/12

Abraham Lincoln 1809-1865

Events

881 – Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat, the King of Italy: Emperor
1429 – English forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and Sir John Stewart of Darnley in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings).
1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.
1541 – Santiago, Chile is founded by Pedro de Valdivia.
1554 – A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason.
1593 – Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseon defenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repel more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju.
1689 – The Convention Parliament declares that the flight to France in 1688 by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constitutes an abdication.
1733 – Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day).
1771 – Gustav III becomes the King of Sweden.
1816 – The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire.
1817 – An Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeats Spanish troops on the Battle of Chacabuco.
1818 – Bernardo O'Higgins formally approved the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile.
1825 – The Creek cede the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west.
1832 – Ecuador annexes the Galápagos Islands.
1851 – Edward Hargraves announces that he has found gold in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, starting the Australian gold rush.
1855 – Michigan State University is established.
1894 – Anarchist Émile Henry hurls a bomb into Paris's Cafe Terminus, killing one and wounding 20.
1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded.
1909 – New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happens when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sinks and explodes at the entrance to Wellington Harbour.
1912 – The Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicates.
1914 – In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
1934 – The Austrian Civil War begins.
1934 – In Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista decides to merge the movement with the Falange Española.
1935 – USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashes into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sinks.
1946 – World War II: Operation Deadlight ends after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats.
1946 – African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard is severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he loses his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanizes the Civil Rights Movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil.
1947 – A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union.
1961 – U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus.
1968 – Phong Nhi and Phong Nhat massacre.
1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
1990 – Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia.
1992 – The current Constitution of Mongolia comes into effect.
1994 – Four men break into the National Gallery of Norway and steal Edward Munch's iconic painting The Scream.
1999 – President Bill Clinton is acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial.
2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
2002 – The trial of former President of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević begins at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He dies four years later before its conclusion.
2002 – An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 crashes in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119.
2004 – The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom.
2009 – Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New York while on approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.

Births

1074 – Conrad, King of Germany and Italy (d. 1101)
1218 – Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)
1567 – Thomas Campion, English composer and poet (d. 1620)
1606 – John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)
1637 – Jan Swammerdam, Dutch biologist (d. 1680)
1663 – Cotton Mather, New England minister (d. 1728)
1665 – Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)
1704 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer (d. 1772)
1728 – Étienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)
1752 – Dorothea Ackermann, German actress (d. 1821)
1752 – Josef Reicha, Czech cellist, composer and conductor (d. 1795)
1753 – François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)
1761 – Jan Ladislav Dussek, Czech composer and pianist (d. 1812)
1768 – Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)
1775 – Louisa Adams, First Lady of the United States (1825–1829), widow of John Quincy Adams (d. 1852)
1777 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist (d. 1838)
1777 – Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, German poet (d. 1843)
1785 – Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist (d. 1838)
1787 – Joseph-Norbert Provencher, Canadian clergyman and missionary (d. 1853)
1788 – Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)
1791 – Peter Cooper, American Industrialist, inventor and philanthropist (d. 1883)
1794 – Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player (d. 1867)
1804 – Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (d. 1865)
1809 – Charles Darwin, English naturalist (d. 1882)
1809 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (1861-his death) (d. 1865)
1828 – George Meredith, English writer (d. 1909)
1843 – John Graham Chambers, English athlete who wrote the Queensberry rules for boxing (d. 1883)
1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d. 1943)
1861 – Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born author (d. 1937)
1865 – Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (d. 1940)
1869 – Emperor Kien Phuc, the 7th emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1884)
1870 – Marie Lloyd, English music-hall performer (d. 1922)
1876 – Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (1879-his death) (d. 1933)
1880 – John L. Lewis, American labor union leader (d. 1969)
1881 – Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)
1884 – Max Beckmann, German artist (d. 1950)
1884 – Johan Laidoner, Estonian military commander (d. 1953)
1884 – Alice Roosevelt Longworth, elder daughter of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1980)
1884 – Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (d. 1957)
1885 – Julius Streicher, Nazi German publisher (d. 1946)
1889 – Bhante Dharmawara, Cambodian monk and supercentenarian (d. 1999)
1893 – Omar Bradley, American general, the last surviving five-star general in the United States and the 1st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (d. 1981)
1897 – Vola Vale, American actress (d. 1970)
1898 – Wallace Ford, English-born actor (d. 1966)
1900 – Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1983)
1902 – William Collier, American stage and film actor (d. 1987)
1903 – Joseph F. Biroc, American cinematographer (d. 1996)
1903 – Chick Hafey, baseball player (d. 1973)
1904 – Ted Mack, American television host (d. 1976)
1907 – Joseph Kearns, American actor (d. 1962)
1907 – Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (d. 1991)
1908 – Jean Effel, French painter and journalist (d. 1982)
1908 – Jacques Herbrand, French logician and mathematician (d. 1931)
1908 – August Neo, Estonian wrestler (d. 1982)
1909 – Sigmund Rascher, German SS doctor (d. 1945)
1911 – Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (d. 1968)
1912 – R. F. Delderfield, English author (d. 1972)
1914 – Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000)
1914 – Arvid Pardo, Maltese diplomat, a.k.a "Father of the Law of the Sea Conference" (d. 1999)
1915 – Andrew Goodpaster, American army general (d. 2005)
1915 – Lorne Greene, Canadian actor (d. 1987)
1916 – Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)
1917 – Dom DiMaggio, American baseball player (d. 2009)
1917 – Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)
1918 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994)
1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)
1920 – William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000)
1920 – Pran, Indian actor
1922 – Hussein Onn, Malaysian politician, Prime Minister (1976–1981) (d. 1990)
1923 – Chaskel Besser, Orthodox rabbi (d. 2010)
1923 – Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director
1925 – Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (d. 1984)
1926 – Joe Garagiola, American baseball player and announcer
1926 – Charles Van Doren, American quiz show contestant
1930 – John Doyle, Irish hurler
1930 – Arlen Specter, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
1931 – Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author (d. 2008)
1932 – Maurice Filion, Canadian ice hockey coach and manager
1932 – Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (d. 2003)
1932 – Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)
1933 – Costa-Gavras, Greek filmmaker
1934 – Annette Crosbie, Scottish actress
1934 – Anne Krueger, American economist
1934 – Bill Russell, American basketball player
1935 – Gene McDaniels, American singer
1936 – Joe Don Baker, American actor
1936 – Paul Shenar, American actor
1937 – Charles Dumas, American athlete (d. 2004)
1938 – Judy Blume, American author
1938 – Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris, British politician
1939 – Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (The Doors)
1940 – Ralph Bates, English actor (d. 1991)
1941 – Naomi Uemura, Japanese adventurer (d. 1984)
1942 – Ehud Barak, Israeli politician, Prime Minister of Israel
1942 – Pat Dobson, American baseball player (d. 2006)
1944 – Moe Bandy, American singer
1945 – Maud Adams, Swedish actress
1945 – David D. Friedman, American economist
1946 – Cliff DeYoung, American actor and musician
1946 – Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Prime Minister of Gabon
1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer
1947 – Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Indian leader of Damdami Taksal (d. 1984)
1947 – Jim Durham, American sportscaster
1948 – Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author
1948 – Mike Robitaille, Canadian ice hockey player
1949 – Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu, Canadian politician and victim's rights activist
1949 – Joaquín Sabina, Spanish singer and songwriter
1950 – Michael Ironside, Canadian actor
1950 – Steve Hackett, English guitarist (Genesis)
1951 – Steven Parent, Manson murder victim (d. 1969)
1952 – Simon MacCorkindale, British actor (d. 2010)
1952 – Michael McDonald, American musician
1953 – Joanna Kerns, American actress
1953 – Nabil Shaban, British actor
1953 – Robin Thomas, American actor
1954 – Joseph Jordania, Australian/Georgian evolutionary musicologist
1954 – Tzimis Panousis, Greek musician and stand-up comedian
1954 – Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer
1955 – Bill Laswell, American bassist and record producer
1955 – Chet Lemon, American baseball player
1956 – Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host
1956 – Brian Robertson, Scottish musician (Thin Lizzy and Motörhead)
1958 – Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens) (d. 2006)
1958 – Bobby Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
1959 – Larry Nance, American basketball player
1959 – Dan Puric, Romanian actor, director and writer
1959 – Sigrid Thornton, Australian actress
1960 – George Gray, American professional wrestler
1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian politician
1961 – Michel Martelly, Haitian musician, businessman and politician
1962 – Jimmy Kirkwood, Irish-born field hockey player
1963 – Ed Lover, American radio personality
1964 – Michel Petit, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Rubén Amaro, Jr., American baseball player
1965 – Christine Elise, American actress
1965 – John Michael Higgins, American actor
1967 – Chris McKinstry, Canadian computer scientist
1967 – Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Indian composer and musician
1968 – Josh Brolin, American actor
1968 – Grégory Charles, Canadian singer, dancer, pianist, radio and television host
1968 – Christopher McCandless, American nomad, subject of biography Into the Wild (d. 1992)
1968 – Chynna Phillips, American singer
1969 – Darren Aronofsky, American director and writer
1969 – Dean Bergeron, Canadian paralympic athlete
1969 – Hong Myung-Bo, Korean footballer
1969 – Meja, Swedish singer
1969 – Brad Werenka, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Jim Creeggan, Canadian bassist (Barenaked Ladies)
1970 – Judd Winick, writer and artist
1971 – Scott Menville American voice actor
1972 – Ajay Naidu, Indian-American actor
1972 – Owen Nolan, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – Sophie Zelmani, Swedish singer/songwriter
1973 – Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater
1973 – Tara Strong, Canadian voice actress
1974 – Toranosuke Takagi, Japanese race car driver
1975 – Cliff Blezinski, Design Director for Epic Games
1975 – Scot Pollard, American basketball player
1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby union footballer
1976 – Silvia Saint, Czech pornographic actress
1977 – Jimmy Conrad, American soccer player
1978 – Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league footballer
1978 – Gethin Jones, Welsh television presenter
1978 – Silver Meikar, Estonian politician
1979 – Antonio Chatman, American football player
1979 – Matt Mauck, American football player
1979 – Jesse Spencer, Australian actor
1980 – Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player
1980 – Sarah Lancaster, American actress
1980 – Christina Ricci, American actress
1981 – Lisa Hannigan, Irish singer
1982 – Jonas Hiller, Swiss ice hockey player
1982 – Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper
1982 – Anthony Tuitavake, New Zealand All Black rugby player
1983 – Carlton Brewster, American football player
1984 – Lolly Badcock, English pornographic actress
1984 – Alexandra Dahlström, Swedish actress
1984 – Brad Keselowski, American racing car driver
1984 – Aylar Lie, Norwegian model
1984 – Tobias Schlauderer, German footballer
1984 – Peter Vanderkaay, American swimmer
1985 – Saskia Burmeister, Australian actress
1986 – Diego Ângelo, Brazilian footballer
1988 – Nana Eikura, Japanese actress
1988 – Mike Posner, American singer, composer and producer
1992 – Faisal ibn Hamad Al Khalifah, prince of Bahrain (d. 2006)
1993 – Jennifer Stone, American actress

Deaths

1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter
1554 – Lord Guilford Dudley, consort of Lady Jane Grey (b. 1536)
1554 – Lady Jane Grey, claimant to the English throne (b. 1537)
1571 – Nicholas Throckmorton, English diplomat and politician (b. 1515)
1590 – François Hotman, French lawyer and writer (b. 1524)
1612 – Christopher Clavius, German astronomer (b. 1538)
1624 – George Heriot, Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist (b. 1563)
1630 – Fynes Moryson, English traveler and writer (b. 1566)
1700 – Aleksei Shein, Russian general and statesman (b. 1662)
1724 – Elkanah Settle, English writer (b. 1648)
1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian diplomat and composer (b. 1653)
1762 – Laurent Belissen, French composer (b. 1693)
1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (b. 1688)
1771 – King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (b. 1710)
1789 – Ethan Allen, American patriot (b. 1738)
1799 – Lazzaro Spallanzani, Italian biologist (b. 1729)
1804 – Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (b. 1724)
1834 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German philosopher (b. 1768)
1894 – Hans von Bülow, German pianist and composer (b. 1830)
1896 – Ambroise Thomas, French opera composer (b. 1811)
1915 – Émile Waldteufel, French composer (b. 1837)
1916 – Richard Dedekind, German mathematician (b. 1831)
1920 – Aurore Gagnon, Victim of child abuse (b. 1909)
1929 – Lillie Langtry, British singer and actress (b. 1853)
1931 – Samedbey Mehmandarov, Russian general (b. 1855)
1933 – Henri Duparc, French composer (b. 1848)
1935 – Georges Auguste Escoffier, French chef (b. 1846)
1942 – Grant Wood, American painter (b.1891)
1945 – Antonio Villa-Real, Filipino jurist (b. 1880)
1947 – Moses Gomberg, Russian-born American chemist (b. 1866)
1949 – Hassan al Banna, Egyptian founder of the Muslim Brotherhood (b. 1906)
1954 – Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (b. 1896)
1957 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American folklorist (b. 1872)
1958 – Douglas Hartree, English mathematical physicist (b. 1897)
1960 – Jean-Michel Atlan, French painter (b. 1913)
1961 – Branko Miljković, Serbian poet (b. 1934)
1969 – Paltiel Daykan, Russian-born Israeli jurist (b. 1885)
1970 – Ishman Bracey, American blues musician (b. 1901)
1971 – James C. Penney, American department store founder (b. 1875)
1976 – Sal Mineo, American actor (b. 1939)
1979 – Jean Renoir, French director (b. 1894)
1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
1982 – Victor Jory, Canadian actor (b. 1902)
1983 – Eubie Blake, American musician and songwriter (b. 1887)
1984 – Anna Anderson, claimant to the throne of Russia (b. 1896)
1984 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (b. 1914)
1985 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)
1989 – Thomas Bernhard, Austrian playwright and novelist (b. 1931)
1991 – Roger Patterson, American death metal bass player (b. 1968)
1992 – Roy Slemon, Canadian military officer (b. 1904)
1992 – Bep van Klaveren, Dutch boxer (b. 1907)
1993 – James Bulger, English murder victim (b. 1990)
1994 – Sue Rodriguez, Canadian assisted suicide advocate (b. 1950)
1995 – Philip Taylor Kramer, American musician (Iron Butterfly) (b. 1952)
1996 – Bob Shaw, Northern Irish novelist (b. 1931)
1998 – Hugh Gardner Ackley, American economist (b.1915)
1999 – Toni Fisher, American pop singer (b. 1931)
2000 – Screamin' Jay Hawkins, American musician (b. 1929)
2000 – Tom Landry, American football coach (b. 1924)
2000 – Andy Lewis, Australian musician (b. 1967)
2000 – Charles M. Schulz, American comics author (b. 1922)
2000 – Oliver, American pop singer (b. 1945)
2001 – Tiberio Mitri, Italian boxer (b. 1926)
2001 – Kristina Söderbaum, German actress (b. 1912)
2002 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (b. 1957)
2003 – Vali Myers, Australian painter (b. 1930)
2005 – Sammi Smith, American country music singer (b. 1943)
2005 – Dorothy Stang, Brazilian nun (b. 1931)
2005 – Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964)
2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
2007 – Randy Stone, American actor and casting director (b. 1958)
2007 – Eldee Young, American jazz player (Ramsey Lewis Trio) (b. 1936)
2008 – Oscar Brodney, American screenwriter (b. 1907)
2009 – notable victims of Colgan Air Flight 3407:
- Alison Des Forges, American investigator of the Rwanda genocide (b. 1942)
- Beverly Eckert, American co-chair of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee (b. 1951)
- Coleman Mellett, American musician (b. 1974)
- Gerry Niewood, American musician (b. 1943)
2010 – Nodar Kumaritashvili, Georgian luger (b. 1988)
2011 – Mato Damjanović, Croatian chess grandmaster (b. 1927)
2011 – Betty Garrett, American actress and dancer (b. 1919)