Doctor Why: Today CXX

Birthdays:

Meriwether Lewis, explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known as part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809

Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan CC, orchestral conductor, composer, and organist, conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1931 to 1956, August 18, 1893 – May 6, 1973

Burleigh Arland Grimes, MLB pitcher over a 19-year career, the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball; managed the Dodgers in 1937 and 1938; remained in baseball for many years as a minor league manager and a scout; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964, August 18, 1893 - December 6, 1985

Robert Daniel BOB Kennedy, MLB right fielder/third baseman, manager and executive; had a 16-season playing career; managed the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics; Chicago Cubs' General Manager from 1976 to 1981, August 18, 1920 - April 7, 2005

Shirley Schrift, aka Shelley Winters, actress, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1959 for The Diary of Anne Frank and in 1965 for A Patch of Blue, August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006

Brian Wilson Aldiss, OBE, author of both general fiction and science fiction, and poet, Hugo and Nebula Awards winner, a vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society, voted the Most Promising New Author at the 1958 World Science Fiction Convention, and elected President of the British Science Fiction Association in 1960, 1925

Roman Polanski, film director and actor, won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2002 for The Pianist, 1933

Roberto Clemente Walker, MLB right fielder, played 18 seasons in the majors from 1955 to 1972, all with the Pittsburgh Pirates; won the National League MVP Award in 1966; four-time NL Batting champion, 1961, 1944 1965, and 1967; won 12 Gold Glove Awards; World Series MVP in 1971 ; won the Babe Ruth Award in 1971; finished his career with exactly 3,000 hits, and a .300+ lifetime batting average; elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously in 1973; a hero in his native Puerto Rico, Clemente spent much of his time during the off-season involved in charity work; he died in a plane crash off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico on December 31, 1972 while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972

Charles ROBERT Redford, Jr., motion picture actor, director, producer, businessman, model, environmentalist, and philanthropist, supporting environmentalism and Native American rights; won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1980 for Ordinary People; founded the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel, 1936

Martin Mull, painter, actor, comedian, voice actor, and recording artist, 1943

Colin David Tooley, aka Carl Wayne, singer and actor, the lead vocalist of The Move, August 18, 1943 - August 31, 2004

Barbara Ann Harris, R&B singer and songwriter, a member of The Toys, 1945

Dr. Taher Elgamal, cryptographer, developed the ElGamal signature scheme, which became the basis for Digital Signature Algorithm adopted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology as the Digital Signature Standard; was chief scientist at Netscape Communications from 1995 to 1998 where he was a driving force behind SSL, 1955

Michael Eugene MIKE LaValliere, former MLB catcher for 11 years, won a Gold Glove Award in 1987, 1960

Erik Schrody, aka Everlast, guitarist and singer-songwriter, he won a Grammy Award with Santana for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for Put Your Lights On, 1969

Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins, aka Christian Slater, actor, had a cameo role in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 1969

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, actor, best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, 1970

RIP:

Giovanni Maria Artusi, theorist, composer, and writer, c. 1540 – August 18, 1613

Honoré Balssa, aka Honoré de Balzac, novelist, May 20, 1799 – August 18, 1850

Paul Mares, jazz cornet & trumpet player, leader of the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, June 15, 1900 – August 18, 1949

Clifford Odets, playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester, July 18, 1906 - August 18, 1963

Corinne ANITA Loos, screenwriter, playwright and author, April 26, 1889 – August 18, 1981

Richard Laurence Millington Synge, biochemist, awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the invention of partition chromatography, October 28, 1914 - August 18, 1994

Persis Khambatta, model and actress, played Lieutenant Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture; wrote and published a coffee table book called Pride of India which featured former Miss Indias, dedicated to Mother Teresa, with part of the royalties going to the Missionaries of Charity, October 2, 1950 – August 18, 1998

Elmer Bernstein, pianist and composer, best known for his work writing music for film and television; wrote the theme songs or other music for more than 200 films and TV shows;
in 1963, he was awarded the Emmy for Excellence in Television for his score of The Making of The President, 1960; received Western Heritage Awards for The Magnificent Seven and The Hallelujah Trail; received five Grammy nominations and two Tony Award nominations for How Now Dow Jones and Merlin; other honors include Lifetime Achievement awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, The Society for the Preservation of Film Music, the USA, Woodstock, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach and Flanders International Film Festivals and the Foundation for a Creative America; received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Five Towns College; was honored by the American Film Institute; received 14 Academy Award nominations, winning for Thoroughly Modern Millie, April 4, 1922 – August 18, 2004

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