Today CXXII

Birthdays:

• Jacopo Peri, composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, often called the inventor of opera, wrote the first work to be called an opera today, Dafne, and the first opera to have survived to the present day, Euridice, August 20, 1561 – August 12, 1633


• Jöns Jakob Berzelius, chemist, invented the modern chemical notation, August 20, 1779 – August 7, 1848


• Howard Phillips [H. P.] Lovecraft, author of fantasy, horror and science fiction, noted for combining these three genres within single works, creator of the Cthulhu Mythos; many of his works became popular after his death, and have influenced movie and radio presentations, as well as contemporary authors, August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937


• Salvatore Quasimodo, poet, awarded the 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature, August 20, 1901 – June 14, 1968


• Weldon Leo JACK Teagarden, jazz trombonist and vocalist, considered the most innovative jazz trombone stylist of the pre-Bebop era, August 20, 1905 - January 15, 1964


• Alfonso Ramon Lopez, MLB catcher and manager, set a major league record for career games as a catcher; his .584 career winning percentage, he ranks 4th in major league history among managers of at least 2000 games, behind Joe McCarthy (.615), Frank Selee (.598) and John McGraw (.586); over the course of 15 full seasons as manager, he never had a losing record; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, August 20, 1908 – October 30, 2005


• Roger Wolcott Sperry, Ph.D., neuropsychologist, shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with David Hunter Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel, for his work with split-brain research, August 20, 1913 - April 17, 1994


• Paul Felix Schmidt, Ph.D., chemist and chess player, awarded the International Master title in 1950; in 1951, earned a doctorate in chemistry, August 20, 1916 – August 11, 1984


• James Travis JIM Reeves, country singer and minor league baseball player, August 20, 1923 – July 31, 1964


• Mario Bernardi, CC, conductor and concert pianist, in 1957, conducted the Canadian Opera Company; in 1968, became the founding conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and became the Music Director in 1971; led the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra from 1984 until 1992; from 1983 until 2006, was the Principal Conductor of the CBC Radio Orchestra, 1930


• Anthony Ainley, actor, best known for his work on television, and particularly for his role as The Master in Doctor Who; the first actor to play The Master as a recurring role since the death of Roger Delgado eight years earlier; the renegade Time Lord, Ainley's best-known acting role, had been portrayed with great success by Roger Delgado until his death in a car crash in 1973; Ainley embraced the part with gusto, appearing as a semi-regular on Doctor Who, from the encounter with Tom Baker in 1981, until its 26-year run came to an end in 1989; while Delgado had been an urbane, sinister presence with a steely stare, Ainley's performance was more pantomimic, imbuing his Master with a cat-like purr and malevolent chuckle; lurking in the shadows, he had a line in mellifluous threats and a predilection for sadism that sent a whole generation of children scurrying behind the sofa; played opposite Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvestor McCoy, his appearances occasionally cosmetic rather than plot-driven; fittingly, he was the main villain in the series' last adventure in 1989, August 20, 1932 - May 3, 2004


• Professor Hideki Shirakawa, chemist, shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of conductive polymers, with Alan J. Heeger and Alan G MacDiarmid, 1936


• Isaac Lee Hayes, actor, and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and arranger; biggest hit was 1971's soundtrack to Shaft; the title song won an Oscar; inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in 2005; voiced the character Chef on South Park from 1997 until 2006, 1942


• Fred Norman, former MLB pitcher, 1942


• Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith, aka Sylvester McCoy, actor, best known for playing the seventh Doctor in Doctor Who from 1987 to 1989, and in the 1996 television movie, 1943


• Constance CONNIE Yu-Hwa Chung, journalist, 1946


• Robert Anthony Plant, rock singer, former lead singer for Led Zeppelin, 1948


• Philip Parris PHIL Lynott, musician, former front man of Thin Lizzy, August 20, 1949 – 4 January 4, 1986


• Gregory Dale GREG Bear, science fiction and fantasy author, 1951


• John Hiatt, musician and songwriter, whose songs have been covered by many, more-famous performers, 1952


• Albert Lincoln AL Roker, tv broadcaster, meteorologist for the Today show, 1954


• Joan Allen, actress, 1956


• Sophie Aldred, actress and television presenter, best known for her portrayal of Ace, on Doctor Who in the last nine stories of the programme's original run; co-wrote Ace, The Inside Story of the End of An Era with Mike Tucker, 1962


• James Wesley Marsters, actor and musician, best known for playing Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel; in 2005, appeared on Smallville as Dr. Milton Fine, aka Brainiac in several episodes; was lead singer for Ghost of the Robot and has a solo musical career, 1962


• Andrew Charles Andy Benes, former MLB pitcher in a fourteen year career from 1989 to 2002; first person selected in the 1988 MLB Draft; 1993 All-Star, 1967


• John D. Carmack II, computer games programmer, co-founded id Software, a computer game development company, in 1991; lead programmer of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, and their sequels, 1970


• Todd Lynn Helton, MLB first baseman, has played for the Colorado Rockies since 1997; five-time All-Star from 2000 to 2004; four-time Silver Slugger Award winner from 2000 to 2003; The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award winner in 1998; hit for the cycle in 1999; in 2000, won the NL Hank Aaron Award and the The Associated Press Player of the Year award, and was the National League Batting Champion, 1973


• Maxim Vengerov, violinist and educator, 1974


• Cory Sullivan, MLB outfielder with the Colorado Rockies; on April 9, 2006, became only the 11th player in history to triple twice in the same inning, 1979

RIP:

• Tomás Luis de Victoria, composer of the late Renaissance, 1548 – August 20, 1611


• Nicolas Gigault, Baroque organist and composer, 1627 – August 20, 1707


• William Booth, founder and first General of The Salvation Army, April 10, 1829 – August 20, 1912


• Paul Ehrlich, scientist, noted for his work in hematology, immunology, and chemotherapy; predicted autoimmunity; coined the term chemotherapy; credited with the first empirical observation of the blood-brain barrier; shared the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, March 14, 1854 – August 20, 1915


• Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer, chemist, awarded the 1905 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, October 31, 1835 - August 20, 1917


• Percy Williams Bridgman, physicist, awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the physics of high pressures, April 21, 1882 – August 20, 1961


• Joseph Ira Dassin, musician, son of actor and director Jules Dassin, November 5, 1938 - August 20, 1980


• Milton Acorn, poet, writer, and playwright, awarded the Canadian Poets Award in 1970 and the Governor General's Award in 1975, March 30, 1923 - August 20, 1986


• Sir Fred Hoyle, astronomer and science fiction writer, June 24, 1915 – August 20, 2001


• Patricia Beth Reid, aka Kim Stanley, actress, the uncredited narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird; was nominated for several Academy Awards; won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in the episode A Cardinal Act of Mercy on Ben Casey in 1963 and an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for playing Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1985, February 11, 1925 – August 20, 2001