Today CLXXXVII

Birthdays:

• Thonius Philips ANTON van Leeuwenhoek, tradesman and scientist, commonly known as the Father of Microbiology, best known for his work on the improvement of the microscope and for his contributions towards the establishment of microbiology, October 24, 1632 - August 30, 1723


• Ferdinand Hiller, composer of the Romantic era, October 24, 1811 - May 12, 1885


• H. W. Bakhuis Roozeboom, chemist, known for his work on phase behaviour in physical chemistry; his main work was in the field of thermodynamics, studying the equilibrium of multiple-phase systems, October 24, 1854 - February 8, 1907


• Edward Nagle Williamson, MLB catcher from 1878 to 1890, October 24, 1857 - March 3, 1894


• Dame Agnes SYBIL Thorndike CH DBE, actress, October 24, 1882 June 9, 1976


• Marianna Winchalaska, aka Gilda Gray, actress and dancer, who became famous for popularizing a dance called the shimmy, October 24, 1901 - December 22, 1959


• Melvin Purvis, lawman and FBI agent, best remembered for leading the manhunt for John Dillinger, October 24, 1903 - February 29, 1960


• Moss Hart, playwright and director of plays and musical theatre; he recalled his youth, early career, and rise to fame in his autobiography Act One, adapted to film in 1963; he was married to Kitty Carlisle, October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961


• Alexander Osipovich Gelfond, mathematician, who obtained important results in several mathematical domains including number theory, analytic functions, integral equations, and the history of mathematics, October 24, 1906 - November 7, 1968


• Saunders Terrell, aka Sonny Terry, blues musician, widely known for his energetic blues harmonica; he established a long-standing musical relationship with Brownie McGhee, and the pair recorded numerous tracks together - they became well-known, even among white audiences, as they joined the growing folk movement of the 1950's and 1960's, October 24, 1911 - March 11, 1986


• Tito Gobbi, baritone, October 24, 1913 – March 5, 1984


• Robert Kahn, aka Bob Kane, comic book artist and writer, the creator of Batman, October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998


• Luciano Berio, composer, noted for his experimental work, and for his pioneering work in electronic music, October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003


• George Crumb, composer of modern and avant garde music, known as an explorer of unusual timbres and extended technique, 1929


• Jiles Perry [J.P.] Richardson, Jr., aka The Big Bopper, disc jockey and early rock and roll performer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known for his song Chantilly Lace; he died in the same plane crash as Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959


• Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina, composer of deeply religious music, 1931


• Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, physicist, awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physics, 1942


• Robert Alexander Mundell Ph.D. CC, professor of economics at Columbia University, awarded the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economics, 1932


• Malcolm Bilson, pianist, specializing in performance on the fortepiano, 1935


• William George Perks, aka Bill Wyman, musician, the bassist for The Rolling Stones from the band's founding in 1962 until 1994, 1936


• Santo Farina, guitarist and composer, with his brother Johnny Farina, one-half of the guitar duo Santo & Johnny, 1937


• Fahrid Murray [F. Murray] Abraham, actor, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1984 for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in Amadeus, 1939


• William H. Dobelle, biomedical researcher, who developed advanced technologies that restored limited sight to blind patients, October 24, 1941 - October 5, 2004


• Jerry McCrohan, aka Jerry Edmonton, drummer for Steppenwolf, October 24, 1946 - November 28, 1993


• Kevin Delaney Kline, stage and film actor; in 1989, he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Fish Called Wanda, 1947


• Steven Greenberg, musician, record producer, and the owner of the independent October Records label, best known for his 1980 hit song Funkytown, recorded under the name Lipps Inc., 1950


• Rawly Eastwick, former MLB pitcher from 1974 to 1981, 1950


• Ronald RON Clyde Gardenhire, former MLB shortstop, second baseman, and third baseman for the New York Mets from 1981 to 1985; he is currently the manager of the Minnesota Twins, 1957


• Bradley Darryl [B.D.] Wong, stage, film, and television actor, and director, who made his Broadway debut M. Butterfly; he is the only actor to have won the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same performance; in 2005, he directed the film Social Grace, starring Margaret Cho, 1962


• Michael Scott MIKE Matthews, MLB pitcher, 1973


• Wilton Guerrero, MLB utility player, who currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals; he is the older brother of Vladimir Guerrero, 1974


• Tila Nguyen, aka Tila Tequila, glamour model and singer, 1981

RIP:

• Tyge Ottesen TYCHO Brahe, nobleman, best known today as an early astronomer, although in his lifetime he was also well known as an astrologer and alchemist, credited with the most accurate astronomical observations of his time; the data were used by his assistant Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion, December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601


• Pierre Gassendi, philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity, and for publishing the first official observations of the Transit of Mercury in 1631; Gassendi crater on the Moon is named after him, January 22, 1592 – October 24, 1655


• Seki Takakazu or Seki Kowa, mathematician, who created a new mathematical notation system, and used it to discover many of the theorems and theories that were being — or were shortly to be — discovered in the West, including recreating major results in calculus, 1637 or 1642 – October 24, 1708


• Alessandro Scarlatti, composer, May 2, 1660 – October 24, 1725


• August Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, composer and violinist, November 2, 1739 – October 24, 1799


• Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko, composer, pianist, conductor, and folksong collector, October 22, 1842 – November 6, 1912


• Louis Renault, industrialist and automobile industry pioneer, February 15, 1877 – October 24, 1944


• Franz Lehár, composer, April 30, 1870 – October 24, 1948


• Sofya Aleksandrovna Yanovskaya, mathematician and historian, specializing in the history of mathematics, mathematical logic, and philosophy of mathematics, best known for her efforts at restoring mathematical logic research in the USSR, and publishing and editing mathematical works of Karl Marx, January 31, 1896 – October 24, 1966


• Charles Sprague CARL Ruggles, composer, who wrote finely-crafted pieces using dissonant counterpoint, March 11, 1876 - October 24, 1971


• Jack Roosevelt JACKIE Robinson, the first black American Major League Baseball player in 1947; his achievement has been recognized by his uniform number, 42, being retired by all Major League Baseball Teams; he was the 1947 Rookie of the Year, the 1949 NL MVP, and the 1949 NL batting leader, hitting .342 - 1949; he was an All-Star in 1949, 1950, 1951, and 1952, as a second baseman, in 1953 as a third baseman, and in 1954 as an outfielder; in 1962, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972


• Clara Viola Cronk, aka Claire Windsor, silent film actress, April 14, 1897 – October 24, 1972


• David Fiodorovich Oistrakh, violinist; the violin concerto of Aram Khachaturian and the two violin concerti by Dmitri Shostakovichs are dedicated to him, September 30, 1908 – October 24, 1974


• Eugene Wesley GENE Roddenberry, scriptwriter and producer, creator of Star Trek, pilot, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal in World War II; one of the first people to be buried in space; after his death, his estate allowed the creation of television series based upon some of his previously unfilmed story ideas and concepts - Earth: Final Conflict and Andromeda were produced under the guidance of Majel Barrett-Roddenberry August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991


• Donald DON Messick, voice actor, September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997


• Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, seamstress and civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress dubbed the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement;" she is famous for her refusal, on December 1, 1955, to obey bus driver James Blake's demand that she give up her seat to a white passenger - her subsequent arrest and trial for this act of civil disobedience triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the largest and most successful mass movements against racial segregation in history, launching Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the organizers of the boycott, to the forefront of the civil rights movement, February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005