Today CLXVIII

Birthdays:

• Denis Diderot, philosopher and writer, the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopédie, October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784


• Alexander Keith, brewmaster, founded the Alexander Keith's Brewing Company in 1820, October 5, 1795 – December 14, 1873


• Henry Chadwick, sportswriter, baseball statistician, and historian, October 5, 1824 – April 20, 1908


• Louis Jean Lumière, one of the earliest filmmakers; on December 28, 1895, he and his brother held their first public screening of movies at which admission was charged, October 5, 1864 – June 6, 1948


• Louise Josephine Kerlin, aka Louise Dresser, actress, October 5, 1878 - April 24, 1965


• Robert Hutchings Goddard, professor and scientist, recognized as a pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry; launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926; awarded 214 patents for his work, 83 during his lifetime; the Goddard Space Flight Center and Goddard Crater, on the Moon, are named in his honor, October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945


• René Samuel Cassin, jurist and judge, awarded the 1968 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, October 5, 1887 – February 20, 1976


• Louis Feinberg, aka Larry Fine, comedian and actor, best-known as a member of The Three Stooges, October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975


• Ray Arthur Kroc, entrepreneur, known for growing the McDonald's Corporation from 1955, October 5, 1902 – January 14, 1984


• John Hoyt, film and television actor, worked as a history instructor, acting teacher, and nightclub comedian before becoming an actor; played Dr. Philip Boyce on Star Trek's first pilot episode The Cage, October 5, 1904 – September 15, 1991


• Harriet E. MacGibbon, actress, October 5, 1905 – February 8, 1987


• Elva Ruby Connes, aka Mrs. Miller,singer, October 5, 1907 – July 5, 1997


• Joshua Lockwood Logan II, stage and film director and writer, known for Broadway and Hollywood shows such as Mister Roberts, Picnic, and South Pacific, October 5, 1908- July 12, 1988


• Brian Ó Nuallain, aka Brian O'Nolan, aka Flann O'Brien, novelist and satirist, October 5, 1911 – April 1, 1966


• Allen Ellsworth, aka Allen Ludden, television presenter and game show host, famous for hosting both the daytime and primetime versions of Password between 1961 and 1975, October 5, 1918 – June 9, 1981


• Donald Pleasence, OBE, actor, October 5, 1919 – February 2, 1995


• Bil Keane, cartoonist, known for The Family Circus, which began its run in 1960, and continues in syndication, 1922


• Glynis Johns, Tony Award-winning stage and film actress, dancer, pianist, and singer; I saw her in The Court Jester in 1956, 1923


• Bill Dana, comedian, created the character Jose Jimenez, 1924


• Betty Jeanne Grayson, aka Gail Davis, actress, October 5, 1925 - March 15, 1997


• Robert BOB Thaves, cartoonist, October 5, 1924 - August 1, 2006


• Willi Unsoeld, mountain climber, October 25, 1926 - March 4, 1979


• Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., retired astronaut, 1929


• Pavel Romanovich Popovich, cosmonaut, 1930


• Reinhard Selten, economist, shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics with John Harsanyi and John Nash, 1930


• Diane Cilento, theatre and film actress, 1933


• Václav Havel, GCB, CC, writer and dramatist, the last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic, 1936


• Richard Street, soul and R&B singer, a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993, 1942


• Steve Miller, blues and rock and roll guitarist and performer, 1943


• Brian Johnson, singer and songwriter, the lead vocalist for AC/DC, 1947


• Jeff Conaway, actor, 1950


• Karen Jane Allen, actress, 1951


• Robert Frederick Zenon BOB Geldof, KBE, singer, songwriter, actor, and political activist, 1951


• Clive Barker, author, film director, and visual artist, 1952


• Duncan Regehr, stage, film, and television actor, 1952


• Dr André Kuipers, MD, astronaut, 1958


• Daniel Leroy Baldwin, actor, producer, and director, 1960


• Kate Elizabeth Winslet, actress, 1975


• Parminder Kaur Nagra, actress, 1975

RIP:

• Pierre de Manchicourt, composer of the Renaissance, c. 1510 – October 5, 1564


• Lodovico Ferrari, mathematician, February 2, 1522 – October 5, 1565


• Tecumseh, Shawnee leader, c. 1768 – October 5, 1813


• Jacques Offenbach, composer and cellist, one of the originators of the operetta form, June 20, 1819 – October 5, 1880


• Louis Dembitz Brandeis, litigator, U. S. Supreme Court Justice, and privacy advocate, November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941


• Lars Onsager, physical and theoretical chemist, awarded the 1968 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, November 27, 1903 – October 5, 1976


• Barbara Nichols, actress, December 30, 1929 - October 5, 1976


• Gloria Hallward, aka Gloria Grahame, film actress, November 28, 1923 - October 5, 1981


• Earl Silas Tupper, inventor of Tupperware, July 28, 1907 – October 5, 1983


• Harold Brent [Hal B.] Wallis, motion picture producer, became involved in the production end of the movie business, and eventually become head of production at Warner Bros.; in a career that spanning more than fifty years, he was involved with the production of more than 400 feature-length movies; received sixteen Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, winning for Casablanca; twice honored with The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, September 14, 1898 – October 5, 1986


• James Hardy Wilkinson, mathematician, a prominent figure in the field of numerical analysis; he worked with Alan Turing on the ACE computer project; he received the Turing Award in 1970, September 27, 1919 – October 5, 1986


• Edward James EDDIE Kendricks, singer and songwriter, one of the lead singers of The Temptations during the 1960's and early 1970's, December 17, 1939 – October 5, 1992


• Linda Gary, voice-over artist, November 4, 1944 - October 5, 1995


• Seymour Roger Cray, electrical engineer and supercomputer architect, who founded Cray Research in 1972, September 28, 1925 – October 5, 1996


• Jacob Cohen, aka Rodney Dangerfield, comedian and actor, November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004


• Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS, physicist, did resaerch in the fields of phosphorescence, radar, isotope separation, and X-ray diffraction; shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and James Watson, December 15, 1916 – October 5, 2004


• William H. Dobelle Ph.D., biomedical researcher, October 24, 1941 - October 5, 2004