Today XVIII

Birthdays:

• Alessandro Scarlatti, composer, May 2, 1660 – October 24, 1725


• Theodor Herzl, journalist and founder of modern political Zionism, May 2, 1860 – July 3, 1904


• Elda Furry, aka Hedda Hopper, actress and gossip columnist, May 2, 1885 – February 1, 1966


• Edward Elmer [E. E.] Smith, Ph.D., aka "Doc" Smith, aka "Skylark" Smith, science fiction author who wrote the Lensman series and the Skylark series, among others, May 2, 1890 - August 31, 1965


• Lorenz LARRY Hart, lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart, May 2, 1895 - November 22, 1943


• Benjamin McLane DOCTOR Spock, pediatrician and author, May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998


• Pincus Leff, aka Pinky Lee, vaudeville performer and television host, May 2, 1907 – April 3, 1993


• Nigel Dennis Wemyss, aka Nigel Patrick, actor, May 2, 1913 - September 21, 1981


• Theodore Bikel, character actor and folk singer, 1924


• Roscoe Lee Browne, actor, 1925


• Fred Lincoln LINK Wray, Jr., musician, rock and roll guitar player most noted for introducing a new sound for electric guitars in his major hit, the 1958 instrumental Rumble, by Link Wray and his Ray Men, before which electric guitars were used to produce clean sounds and jazz chords; made a new sound by inventing fuzz-tone, and adding feedback, distortion, and noise; pioneered the power chord, May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005


• Arnold George Dorsey, aka Engelbert Humperdinck, singer, 1936


• Gerald David LORENZO Music, actor, voice actor, writer, television producer, and musician, May 2, 1937 – August 4, 2001


• Lesley Gore, singer, 1946


• Lou Grammatico, aka Lou Gramm singer, lead singer of Foreigner, 1950


• Christine Baranski, actress, 1952


• Valery Gergiev, conductor and opera company director, 1953


• James Warren JIMMY White MBE, professional snooker player, sometimes called the "People's Champion;" "Whirlwind" White is one of the most popular players in the history of snooker; among the most naturally gifted of players, with an aggressive, risky and almost "exhibitionist" style, he is widely regarded as the finest player NEVER to have won the World Snooker Championship, 1962

RIP:

• Leonardo da Vinci, April 15, 1452 — May 2, 1519


• Giacomo Meyerbeer, composer, September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864


• Györgi Pál Marczincsák, aka George Pál, animator and film producer, February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980


• David Stephen Rappaport, actor, struggled with depression later in his life, eventually leading to his suicide by gunshot in 1990; had recently been cast in the role of Kivas Fajo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Most Toys; scenes he had recorded were later replaced, with Saul Rubinek in the role, November 23, 1951 – May 2, 1990


• Sir Michael Hordern, actor, October 3, 1911 - May 2, 1995


• Oliver Reed, actor, February 13, 1938 – May 2, 1999


• John Nathan-Turner, television producer, the ninth producer of Doctor Who, from 1980 until it was put on hiatus in 1989; the longest-serving, and most widely known, producer during the run of the show, August 12, 1947 – May 1, 2002


• William Thomas Tutte, codebreaker and mathematician; during World War II, he broke a major German code system, which had a significant impact on the Allied invasion of Europe; at the outbreak of World War II, his tutor suggested he join the [British] Government Code and Cipher School, which he did in May 1941; worked at Bletchley Park as a codebreaker, and in a feat described as "one of the greatest intellectual feats of World War II," he was able to deduce the structure of the German Lorenz SZ 40/42 encryption machine (codenamed Tunny), used for high-level German Army communications, using only a number of intercepted encrypted messages; using his breakthrough, the British constructed an entire organization (including the famed Colossus computer) to read the messages sent in this system, May 14, 1917 – May 2, 2002

Also:

• King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America, 1670


• The first game of the Negro National Baseball League is played in Indianapolis, Indiana, 1920


• Jack Benny's radio show airs for the first time, 1932


• Lou Gehrig's streak of 2130 consecutive Major League Baseball games played comes to an end, 1939. The record will stand for 56 years before Cal Ripken, Jr. breaks it