Today CXXXIX

Birthdays:

• Johan Carl Wilcke, physicist, whose two areas of significant research were electricity and caloric theory; in 1772 he calculated the latent heat of ice, September 6, 1732 – April 18, 1796


• Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de La Fayette [Lafayette], aristocrat, considered a national hero in both France and the United States for his participation in the French and American revolutions, September 6, 1757 – May 20, 1834


• John Dalton, chemist and physicist, advocate of the atomic theory, September 6, 1766 – July 27, 1844


• Anton [Antonio] Diabelli, music publisher, editor, and composer; best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his set of thirty-three Diabelli Variations, September 6, 1781 - April 7, 1858


• Catharine Esther Beecher, educator, renowned for her opinions on women’s education as well as her support of the many benefits of the incorporation of a kindergarten into children’s education; sister of 19th century abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, September 6, 1800 – May 12, 1878


• Sir George-Étienne Cartier KCMG, PC, statesman and Father of Confederation, had several reasons for supporting Confederation, notably his fear of American expansion, September 6, 1814 – May 20, 1873


• Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt, PC, politician, and a Father of Confederation, served as the first Minister of Finance in the new confederation, and became the first Canadian High Commissioner in London in 1880, September 6, 1817 – September 19, 1893


• Maria Elizabeth Zakrzewska, physician, a pioneering female doctor in the United States, founded the New England Hospital for Women and Children, the first hospital in Boston and the second hospital in America to be run by women physicians and surgeons; broke barriers that hindered women from practising medicine in the United States, founded hospitals for women, and pioneered the movement that opened the nursing profession to black women, September 6, 1829 - May 12, 1902


• Jane Addams, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and reformer, the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and a founder of the U.S. Settlement House Movement; shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize with American educator Nicholas Murray Butler, September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935


• John James Richard Macleod, physician, physiologist, and educator, whose main work was on carbohydrate metabolism and his efforts with Frederick Banting and Charles Best in the discovery of insulin, for which he and Banting were jointly awarded the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, September 6, 1876 – March 16, 1935


• Charles BUDDY Bolden, jazz cornetist and the first New Orleans jazz musician to come to prominence; known as King Bolden, his band was a top draw in New Orleans from about 1895 until 1907; never recorded; known for his open tone and very loud sound; credited with creating a looser, more improvised version of ragtime and adding blues to it; "King" Oliver and Louis Armstrong were directly inspired by his playing, September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931


• Clara Kimball Young, popular film actress of the early silent film era, September 6, 1890 - October 15, 1960


• Sir Edward Victor Appleton, physicist and educator, awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the knowledge of the ionosphere, which led to the development of radar, September 6, 1892 – April 21, 1965


• Maj. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, aviator, famous for commanding the Flying Tigers during World War II, September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958


• William Samuel Rosenberg, aka Billy Rose, showman, lyricist, Broadway producer, and theatre/nightclub owner; in 1943, he produced Carmen Jones with an all-black cast, September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966


• "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom, boxer and film actor, won the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World in 1932; inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993, September 6, 1903 – March 6, 1976


• Luis Federico Leloir, biochemist, awarded the 1970 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, September 6, 1906 – December 2, 1987


• Harry Danning, MLB catcher, played his entire career, from 1933 to 1942, with the New York Giants; four-time All-Star from 1938 to 1941; hit for the cycle in 1940, September 6, 1911 - November 29, 2004


• Wilson Greatbatch, inventor, advanced the development of early implantable cardiac pacemakers through improved battery technology, 1919


• James JIMMY Mathis Reed, blues singer, a major player in the field of electric blues, September 6, 1925 - August 29, 1976


• Maurice William Prather, motion picture and still photographer, and film director, September 6, 1926 - January 9, 2001


• Evgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov, conductor and composer, Music Director, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow from 1963 to 1965; Music Director, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation from 1965 to 2000; Chief Conductor, Het Residentie Orkest from 1992 to 2000; Principal Conductor, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 1999, September 6, 1928 - May 3, 2002


• Sergio Aragonés Domenech, cartoonist and writer, known for his contributions to Mad Magazine, 1937


• Jo Anne Worley, actress. and comedienne, whose work covers television, movies, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons, best known for her work on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, 1937


• Brigid Berlin, aka Brigid Polk, artist and former Warhol superstar, 1939


• Susumu Tonegawa, molecular biologist, awarded the 1987 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity; in his later years, he has turned his attention to the molecular and cellular basis of memory formation, 1939


• Dan Cragg, soldier, essayist, and science-fiction author, 1939


• David Allan Coe, outlaw country music singer, 1939


• Richard J. Roberts, biochemist and molecular biologist, awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Philip Allen Sharp for the discovery of introns in eukaryotic DNA and the mechanism of gene-splicing, 1943


• George ROGER Waters, rock musician, songwriter, and composer, best known for his 1965 to 1985 career with Pink Floyd as their main songwriter from 1968, one of their lead singers, bass player and main sonic wizard; after 1985, he began a moderately successful solo career, releasing three studio albums and staging one of the largest concerts ever, The Wall Concert in Berlin in 1990; in 2005, he released an opera, Ça Ira, and rejoined Pink Floyd for a performance at the Live 8 concert in London, 1943


• Swoosie Kurtz, actress, first gained attention in the late 70's in the play Uncommon Women and Others; awarded the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her portrayal of Gwen in The Fifth of July; won a second Tony for her performance as Bananas in a 1986 revival of The House of Blue Leaves; received an Emmy for her guest-starring performance on Carol Burnett's series Carol & Company, 1944


• Jane Therese Curtin, actress and comedienne, an original member of Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980; starred in Kate & Allie from 1984 to 1989), receiving two Emmys for her performance, and 3rd Rock from the Sun from 1996 to 2001; in 1993, starred with Dan Aykroyd in the movie Coneheads; has appeared on Broadway, 1947


• Michaëlle Jean, CC, CMM, COM, CD, current Governor General of Canada, 1957


• Jeffrey M. JEFF Foxworthy, comedian and actor, best known as a stand-up comedian, 1958


• Elizabeth Vargas, television journalist, currently co-anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and anchor of ABC News Specials, 1962


• Rosa Maria ROSIE Perez, actress, dancer, and choreographer, 1964


• Ben Finegold, chess International Master, 1960


• Cecelia "CeCe" Peniston, singer, 1969


• Dolores Mary Eileen O’Riordan, singer and songwriter, formerly the lead vocalist for The Cranberries for thirteen years before she left the band in 2003 to pursue a solo career, 1971


• China Tom Miéville, writer of fantastic fiction, fond of describing his work as "weird fiction" (after writers such as H.P. Lovecraft), and belongs to a loose group of writers sometimes called New Weird who attempt to move fantasy away from commercial, genre clichés, 1972


• Nina Elisabet Persson, vocalist, the lead singer of The Cardigans, 1974


• Justin Whalin, actor, apperaed as Jimmy Olsen in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, 1974


• Sarah Goldberg, aka Sarah Danielle Madison, actress, known for her role as Sarah Glass-Camden, the wife of Matt Camden on 7th Heaven, 1974


• Derrek Leon Lee, MLB first baseman, currently with the Chicago Cubs, in the major leagues since 1997; a member of the 2003 World Series Championship Florida Marlins; Gold Glove winner in 2003 and 2005; 2005 All-Star; National League Batting Champion and Silver Slugger winner in 2005; NL Player of the Month in April, 2005, 1975


• Alexander José ALEX Escobar, MLB right fielder, made his major league ; currently with the Washington Nationals, 1978


• Inga Marchand, aka Foxy Brown, singer and songwriter, 1979

RIP:

• René-François-Armand SULLY Prudhomme, poet and essayist, winner of the first Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, March 16, 1839 - September 6, 1907


• Gertrude Alexandria Dagmar Lawrence-Klasen, aka Gertrude Lawrence, actress and musical performer, appeared on stage in London and on Broadway, and in several films; usually associated with the light comedy of Noel Coward, June 4, 1898 - September 6, 1952


• Hanns Eisler, composer, July 6, 1898 - September 6, 1962


• Margaret Higgins Sanger, birth control activist, advocate of certain aspects of eugenics, and the founder of the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood, September 14, 1879 – September 6, 1966


• Ernest Dale Tubb, nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, singer and songwriter, one of the pioneers of country music; his biggest hit song, the 1941 Walking the Floor Over You, marked the rise of the honky-tonk style of country music, February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984


• Giovanni Alfredo De Simone, aka Johnny Desmond, singer, formed his own singing group in 1939, which became the Bob-O-Links after being hired to sing with Bob Crosby's big band; in 1941, he left the Bob-O-Links to go solo; became the featured vocalist for Gene Krupa's band; was a member of Glenn Miller's Army Air Forces Orchestra, November 14, 1919 - September 6, 1985


• Sarah BLANCHE Sweet, silent film actress, began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture industry, June 18, 1896 - September 6, 1986


• Tom Fogerty, musician, played rhythm guitar in Creedence Clearwater Revival; the elder brother of John Fogerty, November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990


• Nicky Hopkins, keyboardist and session musician, performed on hundreds of British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, playing piano and organ, February 24, 1944 in London – September 6, 1994


• Akira Kurosawa, film director, film producer, and screenwriter, whose first credited film, Sugata Sanshiro, was released in 1943, his last, Madadayo, in 1993; his many awards include the Legion d'Honneur and an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement; see his films!, March 23, 1910 – September 6, 1998