today.nukz.net: Almanac January 2

Isaac Asimov ( born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov, c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. His works have been published in all ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (although his only work in the 100s—which covers philosophy and psychology—was a foreword for The Humanist Way).

Asimov is widely considered a master of hard science fiction and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, he was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov's most famous work is the Foundation Series; his other major series are the Galactic Empire series and the Robot series. The Galactic Empire novels are explicitly set in earlier history of the same fictional universe as the Foundation Series. Later, beginning with Foundation's Edge, he linked this distant future to the Robot and Spacer stories, creating a unified "future history" for his stories much like those pioneered by Robert A. Heinlein and previously produced by Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson. He wrote many short stories, among them "Nightfall", which in 1964 was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America the best short science fiction story of all time. Asimov wrote the Lucky Starr series of juvenile science-fiction novels using the pen name Paul French.

The prolific Asimov also wrote mysteries and fantasy, as well as much non-fiction. Most of his popular science books explain scientific concepts in a historical way, going as far back as possible to a time when the science in question was at its simplest stage. He often provides nationalities, birth dates, and death dates for the scientists he mentions, as well as etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Examples include Guide to Science, the three volume set Understanding Physics, Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, as well as works on astronomy, mathematics, the Bible, William Shakespeare's writing and chemistry.

Asimov was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, a crater on the planet Mars, a Brooklyn, New York elementary school, and one Isaac Asimov literary award are named in his honor.

Events

366 – The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire.
533 – Mercurius becomes Pope John II, the first pope to adopt a new name upon elevation to the papacy.
1492 – Reconquista: the emirate of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, surrenders.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under the command of George Washington repulsed a British attack at the Battle of the Assunpink Creek near Trenton, New Jersey.
1788 – Georgia becomes the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1791 – Big Bottom massacre in the Ohio Country, marking the beginning of the Northwest Indian War.
1818 – The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded.
1833 – Re-establishment of British rule on the Falkland Islands.
1860 – The discovery of the planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France.
1865 – Uruguayan War: The Siege of Paysandú ends as Brazilian and Coloradans capture Paysandú, Uruguay.
1871 – Amadeus I becomes King of Spain.
1900 – John Hay announces the Open Door Policy to promote trade with China.
1905 – Russo-Japanese War: The Russian garrison surrenders at Port Arthur, China.
1911 – A gun battle in the East End of London left two dead and sparked a political row over the involvement of then-Home Secretary Winston Churchill.
1920 – The second Palmer Raid takes place with another 6,000 suspected communists and anarchists arrested and held without trial. These raids take place in several U.S. cities.
1927 – Angered by the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917, Catholic rebels in Mexico rebelled against the government.
1935 – Bruno Hauptmann goes on trial for the murder of Charles Lindbergh, Jr., infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh.
1941 – World War II: German bombing severely damages the Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
1942 – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a German spy ring headed by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history—the Duquesne Spy Ring.
1942 – World War II: Manila, Philippines is captured by Japanese forces.
1945 – World War II: Nuremberg, Germany (in German, Nürnberg) is severely bombed by Allied forces.
1949 – Luis Muñoz Marín becomes the first democratically elected Governor of Puerto Rico.
1955 – Panamanian president José Antonio Remón Cantera is assassinated.
1959 – Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the Soviet Union.
1963 – Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory in the Battle of Ap Bac.
1971 – The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic association football (soccer) match.
1974 – President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
1975 – A bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Minister of Railways Lalit Narayan Mishra.
1975 – Bangladeshi Marxist leader Siraj Sikder is arrested and dies while in police custody.
1976 – The Gale of January 1976 begins, which results in coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts, resulting in at least 82 deaths and US$1.3 billion in damage.
1981 – One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
1992 – Leaders of armed opposition declare the President Zviad Gamsakhurdia deposed during a military coup in Georgia.
1999 – A brutal snowstorm smashes into the Midwestern United States, causing 14 inches (359 mm) of snow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and 19 inches (487 mm) in Chicago, Illinois, where temperatures plunge to -13 °F (-25 °C); 68 deaths are reported.
2004 – Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth.
2006 – An explosion in a coal mine in Sago, West Virginia traps and kills 12 miners, while leaving one miner in critical condition.

Births

1642 – Mehmed IV, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1693)
1647 – Nathaniel Bacon, English-born American colonist (d. 1676)
1699 – Osman III, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1757)
1713 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (d. 1803)
1719 – Jacques-Alexandre Laffon de Ladebat, French shipbuilder (d. 1797)
1727 – James Wolfe, British general (d. 1759)
1732 – František Brixi, Czech classical composer (d. 1771)
1777 – Christian Daniel Rauch, German sculptor (d. 1857)
1822 – Rudolf Clausius, German physicist (d. 1888)
1827 – Peter Semenov of Tian Shan, Russian explorer (d. 1914)
1833 – Frederick A. Johnson, American politician (d. 1893)
1836 – Queen Emma of Hawaii, Consort of King Kamehameha IV (d. 1885)
1836 – Mendele Moykher Sforim, Jewish writer (d. 1917)
1837 – Mily Balakirev, Russian composer (d. 1910)
1857 – Martha Carey Thomas, American educator, suffragist, and second President of Bryn Mawr College (d. 1935)
1860 – William Corless Mills, American museum curator (d. 1928)
1860 – Dugald Campbell Patterson, Canadian pioneer (d. 1931)
1866 – Prof. Gilbert Murray, Australian classical scholar (d. 1957)
1870 – Ernst Barlach, German sculptor (d. 1938)
1873 – Thérèse of Lisieux, French Roman Catholic nun (d. 1897)
1873 – Antonie Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer and Marxist theorist (d. 1960)
1877 – Slava Raškaj, Croatian painter (d. 1906)
1879 – Rudolf Bauer, Hungarian athlete (d. 1932)
1882 – Herbert von Petersdorff, German swimmer (d. 1917)
1884 – Ben-Zion Dinur, Russian-born Israeli educator, historian and politician (d. 1973)
1885 – Gordon Flowerdew, Canadian Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
1886 – Apsley Cherry-Garrard, English Antarctic explorer (d. 1959)
1886 – Florence Lawrence, Canadian actress (d. 1938)
1889 – Sir Bertram Stevens, Premier of New South Wales 1932-39 (d. 1973)
1891 – Giovanni Michelucci, Italian architect, urban planner and engraver (d. 1990)
1892 – Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (d. 1962)
1893 – Lillian Leitzel, German acrobat and strongwoman (d. 1931)
1895 – Count Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (d. 1948)
1896 – Dziga Vertov, Russian filmmaker (d. 1954)
1896 – Sir Lawrence Wackett, Australian aircraft engineer (d. 1982)
1897 – Jim Londos, Greek wrestler (d. 1975)
1901 – Bob Marshall, American conservationist (d. 1939)
1902 – Dan Keating, Irish republican (d. 2007)
1905 – Lev Schnirelmann, Russian mathematician (d. 1938)
1905 – Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
1904 – Truus Klapwijk, Dutch diver and freestyle swimmer(d. 1991)
1905 – Luigi Zampa, Italian film director and screenwriter (d. 1991)
1909 – Riccardo Cassin, Italian mountaineer (d. 2009)
1909 – Barry M. Goldwater, American politician (d. 1998)
1913 – Anna Lee, English actress (d. 2004)
1914 – Violet Vivian Finlay Stuart Mann, British writer (d. 1986)
1916 – Zypora Spaisman, Polish-born American Yiddish theatre actress and producer (d. 2002)
1917 – Vera Zorina, German dancer (d. 2003)
1918 – Willi Graf, German anti-Nazi activist (d. 1943)
1920 – Isaac Asimov, American author and biochemistry professor (d. 1992)
1921 – Glen Harmon, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2007)
1924 – Evgenios Spatharis, Greek shadow theatre artist (d. 2009)
1925 – William J. Crowe, American admiral and ambassador (d. 2007)
1925 – Larry Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (d. 2008)
1926 – Howard Caine, American film and television director (d. 1993)
1927 – Grigoris Varfis, Greek politician
1928 – Avie Bennett, Canadian philanthropist
1928 – Robert Goralski, American journalist (d. 1988)
1928 – Daisaku Ikeda, Japanese writer
1929 – Lehri, Pakistani actor and comedian (d. 2012)
1930 – Julius La Rosa, American singer
1931 – Toshiki Kaifu, Japanese politician
1932 – Peter Redgrove, British poet (d. 2003)
1933 – Ed Casey, Australian politician (d. 2006)
1933 – On Kawara, Japanese painter
1933 – Seiichi Morimura, Japanese author
1933 – Richard Riley, American politician
1935 – Lolo Soetoro, Indonesian geographer (d. 1987)
1936 – Roger Miller, American singer (d. 1992)
1938 – Hans Herbjørnsrud, Norwegian author
1938 – Goh Kun, South Korean politician
1940 – Susan Wittig Albert, American mystery writer
1940 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist
1940 – S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, Indian-American mathematician
1942 – Dennis Hastert, 59th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
1942 – Ray Moore, British broadcaster (d. 1989)
1942 – Hugh Shelton, 15th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1943 – Baris Manço, Turkish singer and television producer (d. 1999)
1944 – Péter Eötvös, Hungarian composer and conductor
1944 – Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
1946 – Richard Cole, English tour manager
1947 – Jack Hanna, American zoologist
1947 – Calvin Hill, American football player
1947 – David Shapiro, American poet, literary critic, and art historian
1947 – Valery Shary, Byelorussian Olympic champion weightlifter
1948 – Judith Miller, American journalist
1949 – Christopher Durang, American playwright
1949 – Leijn Loevesijn, Dutch cyclist
1949 – John Turner, English cricketer (d. 2012)
1950 – Débora Duarte, Brazilian actress
1950 – Leo van der Goot, Dutch Radio DJ and singer
1950 – David Shifrin, American classical clarinetist
1951 – Jim Essian, American baseball player
1951 – Alexander Pogrebinsky, Russian painter
1952 – Jimmy Santiago Baca, American poet and writer
1952 – Robbie Ftorek, American ice hockey player
1952 – Christine Lavin, American singer-songwriter (Four Bitchin' Babes)
1952 – Graeme Strachan, Australian rock singer (Skyhooks) (d. 2001)
1953 – Vincent Racaniello American virologist
1953 – Jacques Tichelaar, a Dutch politician and trade union leader
1953 – Manfred Wittke, German footballer
1954 – Henry Bonilla, American politician
1954 – Dawn Silva, American singer (The Brides of Funkenstein, P-Funk)
1955 – Tex Brashear, American voice actor
1955 – Vivien Savage, French singer
1956 – Lynda Barry, American cartoonist
1956 – Jishu Dasgupta, Indian actor and director (d. 2012)
1958 – Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist
1959 – Kirti Azad, Indian cricketer and politicain
1959 – Kim Coates, Canadian actor
1960 – Raman Lamba, Indian cricketer (d. 1998)
1960 – Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author
1961 – Gabrielle Carteris, American actress
1961 – IJsbrand Chardon, Dutch equestrian
1961 – Todd Haynes, American film director
1961 – Craig James, American football player
1961 – Robert Wexler, American politician
1963 – David Cone, American baseball player
1963 – Edgar Martínez, American baseball player
1964 – Luis d'Antin, Spanish motorcycle racer
1964 – Pernell Whitaker, American boxer
1965 – Greg Swindell, American baseball player
1966 – Kate Hodge, American actress
1967 – Tia Carrere, American actress
1967 – Jón Gnarr, Icelandic actor and mayor of Reykjavík
1967 – Francois Pienaar, South African rugby player
1968 – Cuba Gooding, Jr., American actor
1968 – Anky van Grunsven, Dutch dressage champion
1968 – Evan Parke, Jamaican actor
1968 – Goichi Suda, Japanese video game developer
1969 – Robby Gordon, American racing driver
1969 – Karl-Heinz Grasser, Austrian politician
1969 – Patrick Huard, Quebec actor and comedian
1969 – Glen Johnson, Jamaican boxer
1969 – Tommy Morrison, American boxer
1969 – Róbert Švehla, Slovak ice hockey player
1969 – Christy Turlington, American model
1970 – Royce Clayton, American baseball player
1970 – Sanda Ladosi, Romanian singer
1970 – Eric Whitacre, American composer
1971 – Taye Diggs, American actor
1971 – Renee Elise Goldsberry, American actress and singer
1971 – Lisa Harrison, American basketball player
1971 – Markus Hoffmann, German actor (d. 1997)
1971 – Yutaka Takenouchi, Japanese actor
1972 – Adam Elliot, Australian animator
1972 – Rodney MacDonald, Canadian politician and musician
1972 – Hristos Meletoglou, Greek triple jumper
1972 – Mattias Norström, Swedish professional ice hockey player
1974 – Luis Moro, Cuban-American actor and filmmaker
1974 – Jason de Vos, Canadian footballer
1975 – Chris Cheney, Australian musician (The Living End)
1975 – Doug Robb, American singer (Hoobastank)
1975 – Jeff Suppan, American baseball player
1975 – Reuben Thorne, New Zealand rugby union player
1976 – Hrysopiyi Devetzi, Greek triple jumper
1976 – Danilo Di Luca, Italian cyclist
1976 – Mahée Paiement, Canadian actress
1976 – Paz Vega, Spanish actress
1977 – Brian Boucher, American professional ice hockey player
1977 – Stefan Koubek, Austrian tennis player
1977 – Ales Pisa, Czech ice hockey player
1977 – Nikos Soultanidis, Greek footballer
1978 – Karina Smirnoff, Ukrainian-American professional ballroom dancer
1978 – Megumi Toyoguchi, Japanese voice actress
1980 – Annie Bellemare, Canadian Figure Skater
1980 – Mac Danzig, American Mixed martial arts combatant
1980 – Melvin Holwijn, Dutch footballer
1980 – Jérôme Pineau, French cyclist
1981 – Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
1981 – Ryan Garko, American baseball player
1981 – Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player
1981 – Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
1982 – Athanasia Tsoumeleka, Greek race walker
1984 – Otacilio, Brazilian footballer, Aviation Professional
1986 – Ediz Bahtiyaroglu, Turkish-Bosnian footballer (d. 2012)
1986 – Trombone Shorty, American Musician
1988 – Jonny Evans, Northern Irish footballer
1988 – Damien Tussac, French-born German rugby player
1989 – Maksims Bogdanovs, Latvian motorcycle racer
1989 – Romain Dedola, French footballer
1990 – Karel Abraham, Czech motorcycle racer
1991 – Davide Santon, Italian footballer
1991 – Steele Sidebottom, Australian rules footballer
1992 – Anna Arina Marenko, Russian tennis player

Deaths

1512 – Svante Nilsson, regent of Sweden since 1504 (b. 1460)
1514 – William Smyth, English bishop and statesman (b. c. 1460)
1557 – Pontormo, Italian painter (b. 1494)
1664 – George II of Fleckenstein-Dagstuhl, last baron of the house of Fleckenstein (b. 1588)
1726 – Domenico Zipoli, Italian composer (b. 1688)
1861 – King Frederick William IV of Prussia (b. 1795)
1892 – George Airy, British Astronomer Royal (b. 1801)
1904 – James Longstreet, American Confederate general (b. 1821)
1913 – Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (b. 1855)
1915 – Carl Goldmark, Hungarian composer (b. 1830)
1917 – Léon Flameng, French cyclist (b. 1877)
1920 – Paul Adam, French novelist (b. 1862)
1924 – Sabine Baring-Gould, English composer and novelist (b. 1834)
1939 – Roman Dmowski, Polish politician (b. 1864)
1941 – Mischa Levitzki, Russian-born pianist (b. 1898)
1946 – Joe Darling, Australian cricketer (b. 1870)
1948 – Vicente Huidobro, Chilean poet (b. 1893)
1950 – James Dooley, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1877)
1950 – Theophrastos Sakellaridis, Greek composer and conductor (b. 1883)
1951 – Sir William Campion, Governor of Western Australia (b. 1870)
1959 – Chris van Abkoude, Dutch-born writer and novelist (b. 1880)
1960 – Fausto Coppi, Italian cyclist (b. 1919)
1960 – Paul Sauvé, Canadian politician (b. 1907)
1963 – Jack Carson, American actor (b. 1910)
1963 – Dick Powell, American actor (b. 1904)
1971 – E. V. Knox, English poet and satirist (b. 1881)
1974 – Tex Ritter, American actor (b. 1905)
1977 – Erroll Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
1983 – Dick Emery, English comedian (b. 1915)
1986 – Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
1989 – Safdar Hashmi, Indian playwright, author, director, lyricist and theorist (b. 1954)
1990 – Evangelos Averoff, Greek politician and author (b. 1910)
1994 – Dixy Lee Ray, American politician, 17th Governor of Washington (b. 1914)
1994 – Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (b. 1915)
1995 – Siad Barre, President of Somalia (b. 1919)
1996 – Karl Targownik, Hungarian psychiatrist (b. 1915)
1997 – Randy California, American guitarist & songwriter (Spirit) (b. 1951)
1998 – Frank Muir, English writer, raconteur (b. 1920)
1999 – Sebastian Haffner, German journalist and author (b. 1907)
1999 – Rolf Liebermann, Swiss composer (b. 1910)
2000 – Patrick O'Brian, British novelist (b. 1914)
2000 – Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., American admiral (b. 1920)
2001 – William P. Rogers, American politician (b. 1913)
2002 – Armi Aavikko, Finnish singer (b. 1958)
2005 – Frank Kelly Freas, American artist (b. 1922)
2005 – Maclyn McCarty, American geneticist (b. 1911)
2005 – Edo Murtic, Croatian painter (b. 1921)
2006 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, first female Philippine Supreme Court Justice (b. 1913)
2006 – Lidia Wysocka, Polish actress (b. 1916)
2007 – Garry Betty, American CEO of Earthlink (b. 1957)
2007 – Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, American historian (b. 1941)
2007 – Mauno Jokipii, Finnish professor and researcher (b. 1924)
2007 – Teddy Kollek, Austrian-born mayor of Jerusalem (b. 1911)
2007 – Paek Nam-sun, North Korean Foreign Affairs minister (b. 1929)
2007 – Richard Newton, Australian-born technology pioneer and professor (b. 1951)
2007 – David Perkins, American geneticist (b. 1919)
2007 – Robert C. Solomon, American scholar of continental philosophy (b. 1942)
2008 – Lee S. Dreyfus, American politician (b. 1926)
2008 – George MacDonald Fraser, British author (b. 1925)
2008 – Martinus Tels, Dutch physicist and chemical engineer (b. 1926)
2008 – Galyani Vadhana, Princess of Thailand (b. 1923)
2009 – Inger Christensen, Danish poet (b. 1935)
2009 – Maria de Jesus, Portuguese supercentenarian (b. 1893)
2010 – David R. Ross, Scottish author and historian (b. 1958)
2011 – Anne Francis, American actress (b. 1930)
2011 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (b. 1946)
2011 – Szeto Wah, Hong Kong politician and educationalist (b. 1931)
2011 – Richard D. Winters, American Army officer (b. 1918)
2012 – Ioan Dragan, Romanian footballer (b. 1965)
2012 – Anatoly Kolesov, Russian wrestler (b. 1938)
2012 – Helmut Müller-Brühl, German conductor (b. 1933)
2012 – Paulo Rodrigues da Silva, Brazilian footballer (b. 1986)