Today XLVII

Birthdays:

• Thomas Chippendale, cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo and Neoclassical styles, June 5, 1718 – November 13, 1779


• Adam Smith, FRSE, political economist ["laissez-faire"] and moral philosopher, baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790


• José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, aka Francisco "Pancho" Villa, one of the foremost leaders and best known generals of the Mexican Revolution, June 5, 1878 – July 20, 1923


• John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, CB, economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, had a major impact on modern economic and political theory, June 5, 1883 – April 21, 1946


• Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, newspaper owner and media entrepreneur, June 5, 1894 – August 4, 1976


• William Lawrence Boyd, actor, best known for his role of Hopalong Cassidy, June 5, 1895 - September 12, 1972


• Dennis Gabor, physicist, most notable for inventing holography, for which he received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics, June 5, 1900 - February 9, 1979


• Cornelius Ryan, journalist and author, best known for his writings on popular military history, especially of World War II; his best-known books are 1959's The Longest Day, and 1974's A Bridge Too Far, June 5, 1920 – November 23, 1974


• Cecil Antonio 'Tony' Richardson, theatre and film director and producer, June 5, 1928 - November 14, 1991


• William Daniel 'Bill' Moyers, journalist and public commentator, 1934


• The Rt. Hon. Charles Joseph 'Joe' Clark, PC, CC, AOE, MA, LLD,
  sixteenth prime minister of Canada, 1939


• Martha Argerich, concert pianist, 1941


• Spalding Gray, actor, screenwriter, and playwright, June 5, 1941 – ca. January 10, 2004


• Frederick Stewart, aka Freddie Stone, musician, best known as co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist for Sly & The Family Stone, 1946


• Laura Phillips 'Laurie' Anderson, experimental performance artist and musician, 1947


• Ken Follett, author of thrillers and historical novels, 1949


• Liza Weil, actress, best known for her role as Paris Geller in The Gilmore Girls, 1977

RIP:

• Roger Cotes, mathematician, invented the quadrature formulas known as Newton-Cotes formulas and first introduced what is known today as Euler's formula, July 10, 1682 – June 5, 1716


• Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber, composer, November 18 or 19, 1786 - June 5, 1826


• Stephen Crane, author, best known for 1895's The Red Badge of Courage, November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900


• William Sydney Porter, aka O. Henry, author, September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910


• Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC, Field Marshal, diplomat, and statesman, June 24, 1850 – June 5, 1916


• Paul Keres, chess grandmaster and one of the strongest chess players of all time, apart from the World chess champions. Many claim him to be the strongest modern player never to play in a world championship match, January 7, 1916 - June 5, 1975


• Harold Lloyd Jenkin, aka Conway Twitty, best known as a country music singer, who also enjoyed success in early Rock and Roll, R&B, and Pop music, September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993


• Jeanette Nolan, actress, December 30, 1911 - June 5, 1998


• Melvin Howard 'Mel' Tormé, jazz and standards singer, composer, and actor, nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", a name he disliked, September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999


• Douglas Glenn Colvin, aka Dee Dee Ramone, songwriter and bassist, a founding member of The Ramones, September 18, 1952 - June 5, 2002


• Iona Brown, violinist and conductor, director of The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, January 7, 1941 - June 5, 2004