Today CXXXI

Birthdays:

• John Locke, philosopher, contributor to liberal theory, often classified as a British Empiricist, and a social contract theorist; developed an alternative to the Hobbesian state of nature and argued a government could only be legitimate if it received the consent of the governed through a social contract and protected the natural rights of life, liberty, and estate, August 29, 1632 – October 28, 1704


• Count Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, poet, playwright, and essayist, the main themes in whose work are death and the meaning of life, awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in Literature, August 29, 1862 - May 6, 1949


• Charles Franklin Kettering, farmer, school teacher, mechanic, engineer, scientist, inventor, and social philosopher, held more than 300 U.S. patents; invented the all-electric starting, ignition, and lighting system for automobiles; patents included a portable lighting system, Freon, a World War I "aerial torpedo," a treatment for venereal disease, an incubator for premature infants, and an engine-driven generator called the "Delco;" developed the idea of Duco paint, ethyl gasoline, diesel engines, and ways to harness solar energy; a pioneer in the application of magnetism to medical diagnostic techniques, August 29, 1876 – November 24 or November 25, 1958


• Edmund Preston Biden, aka Preston Sturges, playwright, screenwriter, and director, won the first Academy Award ever given for Writing Original Screenplay for The Great McGinty in 1940; received two screenwriting Oscar nominations in 1944 , August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959


• Werner Forssmann, physician, credited with the first catheterization of a human heart, for which he was awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, August 29, 1904 – June 1, 1979


• Ingrid Bergman, actress, won Academy Award for Best Actress in 1944 for Gaslight and in 1956 for Anastasia, and Best Supporting Actress in 1974
  for Murder on the Orient Express, August 29, 1915 – August 29, 1982


• George Montgomery Letz, aka George Montgomery, actor, painter, sculptor, furniture craftsman, and stuntman, best known as an actor in Westerns, August 29, 1916 - December 12, 2000


• Luther Davis, playwright and screenwriter , received two Tony Awards in 1954 for Kismet, two Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards, 1916


• Isabel Sanford, actress, most famous for her role as Louise Jefferson in All in the Family and The Jeffersons; first black woman to win a Best Actress Emmy, August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004


• Charles "Bird" Parker, Jr., jazz saxophonist and composer, considered one of the greatest jazz musicians ever; a founding figure of bebop; the nightclub Birdland was named after him, as were the songs Lullaby of Birdland and Birdland, August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955


• Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, CBE, film actor, director and producer, 1923


• Ruth Jones, aka Dinah Washington, blues, jazz, and gospel singer, August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963


• William Friedkin, movie and television director, producer, and writer, best known for directing The Exorcist and The French Connection, winning an Academy Award for Best Director in 1971 for the latter, 1935


• Elliott Goldstein, aka Elliott Gould, actor, 1938


• Lenworth George LENNY Henry, CBE, entertainer, a very funny and talented performer, 1958


• Ernesto Rodrigues, composer, violinist, violist, and electronic musician, 1959


• Rebecca George, aka Rebecca De Mornay, actress, credited as a producer and arranger on Leonard Cohen's album The Future, 1961


• Michelle Johnson, aka Meshell Ndegeocello, singer, bassist, and multi-instrumentalist, 1968


• Joe Swail, professional snooker player, 1969


• Carla Gugino, actress, 1971


• Roy Edward Oswalt, MLB starting pitcher for the Houston Astros; 2000 Olympic gold medalist; 2005 and 2006 All-Star; 2005 NL Championship Series MVP; had back to back 20-win seasons [2004-05], 1977


• Lanny Barbie, actress and model, 1981

RIP:

• Gregory King, genealogist, civil servant, and economic statistician, December 15, 1648 - August 29, 1712


• Edmond Hoyle, teacher and writer best, known for his works providing detailed descriptions of games; the phrase "according to Hoyle" is a reflection of his generally-perceived authority on the subject, 1672 - August 29, 1769


• Mary Anne Galton Schimmelpenninck, writer in the anti-slavery movement, great name!, November 25, 1778 - August 29, 1856


• Pierre Lallement, inventor of the bicycle, 1843 - August 29, 1891


• Lowell Jackson Thomas, writer, broadcaster, and traveller, inventor of the travelogue, April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981


• Ingrid Bergman, actress, August 29, 1915 – August 29, 1982


• Lee Marvin, film actor, won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1965 for Cat Ballou, February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987


• Hans Vonk, conductor and champion of Dutch composers, Principal Conductor, Het Residentie Orkest from 1980 to 1991; Principal Conductor, Dresden Staatskapelle from 1985 to 1990; Principal Conductor, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne from 1990 to 1997;
  Music Director, St Louis Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2002, June 18, 1942 - August 29, 2004