Thursday, October 12, 2006

Today CLXXV

Birthdays:

  • Bernardo Pisano, composer, priest, singer, and scholar of the Renaissance, one of the first madrigalists, October 12, 1490 – January 23, 1548

  • Arthur Nikisch, conductor, considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Liszt, October 12, 1855 – January 23, 1922

  • Elmer Ambrose Sperry, inventor and entrepreneur, founded the Sperry Electric Company in 1880 to manufacture the electric dynamos and arc lamps that he had invented as a teenager; over the next fifty years, he founded seven more companies to manufacture his own inventions - the companies evolved into the Sperry Corporation, October 12, 1860 - June 16, 1930

  • Arthur Harden, biochemist, shared the 1929 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Hans Karl August Simon von Euler-Chelpin for their investigations into the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes, October 12, 1865 – June 17, 1940

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM, composer, whose mother, Margaret Susan Wedgwood, was the great-granddaughter of the potter Josiah Wedgwood; wrote nine symphonies, as well as numerous other works including chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores; a collector of British folk music; listen to his Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis!, October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958

  • James Timothy JIMMY Burke, MLB infielder and manager, managed the St. Louis Cardinals in 1905, and the St. Louis Browns from 1918 to 1920, October 12, 1874 - March 26, 1942

  • Edward Alexander Crowley, aka Aleister Crowley, occultist, writer, mystic, hedonist, chess player, mountain climber, poet, painter, astrologer, drug experimenter, and social critic, best known today for his occult writings, especially The Book of the Law, October 12, 1875 – December 1, 1947

  • Eugenio Montale, poet, prose writer, editor, and translator, winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize for Literature, October 12, 1896 – September 12, 1981

  • Joseph Edward JOE Cronin, MLB shortstop from 1926 to 1945, and manager from 1933 to 1947; seven-time All-Star; general manager of the Boston Red Sox from 1947 to 1958; in January, 1959, Cronin became the first former player to be elected president of the American League, which position he held until early 1973; inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956, October 12, 1906 – September 7, 1984

  • Doris DOSSY Grau, actress, script supervisor, and voice actress, October 12, 1924 - December 30, 1995

  • Richard DICK Claxton Gregory, comedian, social activist, writer, entrepreneur, and nutritionist, 1932

  • Guido Molinari, artist, known for his abstract paintings, October 12, 1933 – February 21, 2004

  • Albert Nikolayevich Shiryaev, mathematician, known for his research in probability theory, statistics, and financial mathematics, 1934

  • Luciano Pavarotti, tenor, 1935

  • Samuel David SAM Moore, rhythm and blues singer, best known for his work in the duo Sam & Dave; check out his appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000, 1935

  • David Melvin English, aka Melvin Franklin, bass singer, best known as a member of The Temptations from 1961 to 1994, October 12, 1942 – February 23, 1995

  • Susan Ellen Anton, 5'11" actress, 1950

  • Jane Siberry, singer-songwriter; in June, 2006, she changed her name to Issa, 1955

  • Satoshi Kon, director of anime films, 1963

  • Hugh Michael Jackman, film and stage actor, Wolverine!, 1968

  • Martie Erwin Maguire, country music songwriter and musician, a founding member of the Dixie Chicks; she plays fiddle, mandolin, and viola, and sings background vocals, 1969

  • Kirk Thomas Cameron, actor, 1970

  • Tanyon James Sturtze, MLB relief pitcher for the New York Yankees, 1970

  • Irina Pantaeva, model and actress, 1972

  • Stephen Lee, professional snooker player, 1974


RIP:

  • Robert Edward Lee, career army officer, Confederate general during the American Civil War, January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870

  • Calvin Fairbank, abolitionist minister, November 3, 1816 - October 12, 1898

  • Jacques Anatole François Thibault, aka Anatole France, author, awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Literature, April 16, 1844 – October 12, 1924

  • Thomas Hezikiah TOM Mix, film actor, the star of many early Western movies, who made over 300 films between 1910 and 1935, all but 9 of them silent features, January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940

  • Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi, composer of sacred music, December 21, 1872 - October 12, 1956

  • Gordon S. Griffith, assistant director, film producer, and one of the first child actors, July 4, 1907 – October 12, 1958

  • Paul Hermann Müller, chemist, awarded the 1948 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his 1939 discovery of DDT as an insecticide useful in the control of malaria, yellow fever, and other insect-vector diseases, January 12, 1899 – October 12, 1965

  • Sonja Henie, figure skater and actress, a three-time Olympic Champion, ten-time World Champion, and six-time European Champion, April 8, 1912 - October 12, 1969

  • Vincent Eugene Craddock, aka Gene Vincent, rockabilly pioneer musician, the first inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame on its formation in 1997; in 1998, he was also posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971

  • John Leonard JOHNNY Olson, radio and television announcer, best known for announcing 32 game shows from Mark Goodson - Bill Todman Productions, including To Tell The Truth, What's My Line?, I've Got A Secret, and Concentration, May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985

  • Ricky Helton Wilson, musician, original guitarist and co-founder of The B-52's, March 3, 1953 – October 12, 1985

  • Ruth Manning-Sanders, poet and author, best known for her series of children's books, 1895 - October 12, 1988

  • Carmen Cavallaro, pianist, May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989

  • Arkady Strugatsky, science fiction author, August 28, 1925 – October 12, 1991

  • Leon Wycoff, aka Leon Ames, film and television actor, January 20, 1902 - October 12, 1993

  • Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., aka John Denver, folk singer-songwriter and folk rock musician, December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997

  • Wilton Norman WILT Chamberlain, NBA basketball player, August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999

  • Joseph Raymond RAY Conniff, musician, trombonist, arranger, and bandleader, November 6, 1916 - October 12, 2002

  • William Lee WILLIE Shoemaker, jockey, won 11 Triple Crown races, but never the Crown itself, August 19, 1931 - October 12, 2003

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