Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Today CLXXXVIII

Birthdays:

  • Évariste Galois, mathematician, whose work laid the fundamental foundations for Galois Theory, a major branch of abstract algebra, and the subfield of Galois connections; he was the first to use the word group as a technical term in mathematics to represent a group of permutations, October 25, 1811 – May 31, 1832

  • Johann Strauss II, or Johann Strauss, Jr., or Johann Strauss the Younger, composer, known especially for his waltzes, he became the "waltz king" by his revolutionary elevation of the waltz from lowly peasant dance to sparkling entertainment for the royal court, October 25, 1825 – June 3, 1899

  • Alexandre-César-Léopold Bizet, baptized as Georges Bizet, composer and pianist, best known for his opera Carmen, October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875

  • Alexander Tikhonovich Gretchaninov, Romantic composer, October 25, 1864 – January 3, 1956

  • John Francis Dodge, automobile manufacturing pioneer, October 25, 1864 - January 14, 1920

  • John William Heisman, football player and college football coach in the early era of the sport, the namesake of the Heisman Trophy awarded annually to the season's best college football player, October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936

  • Pablo Picasso, painter and sculptor, the co-founder of cubism; it has been estimated that he produced about 13,500 paintings or designs, 100,000 prints or engravings, 34,000 book illustrations, and 300 sculptures or ceramics, October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973

  • Abel Gance, film director, producer, writer, actor, and editor, October 25, 1889 - November 10, 1981

  • Leo G. Carroll, character actor, known for his roles in several Hitchcock films, and on TV as Cosmo Topper on Topper, and as Alexander Waverly on The Man from U.N.C.L.E., October 25, 1892–October 16, 1972

  • Levi Shkolnik, aka Levi Eshkol, the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death, October 25, 1895 - February 26, 1969

  • Salvatore Massaro, aka Eddie Lang, jazz guitarist, October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933

  • William WILLY A. Higinbotham, physicist, credited with creating one of the first video games, Tennis for Two, which is similar to PONG; as the Head of the Instrumentation Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory, he created it on an oscilloscope in 1958, to entertain visitors during visitor days at the national laboratory, October 25, 1910 - November 10, 1994

  • Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon, aka Minnie Pearl, country comedian at the Grand Ole Opry, and on the television show Hee Haw, October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996

  • Ivan Morton Niven Ph.D., mathematician, who worked mainly in number theory, and completed the proof of Waring's problem in 1944, October 25, 1915 – May 9, 1999

  • William John Bertanzetti, aka Billy Barty, film actor and activist for the promotion of rights for others with dwarfism, who founded the Little People of America to help with his activism, October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000

  • Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano opera singer and recitalist, 1926

  • Barbara Cook, singer and actress, famed for her roles in musicals such as Candide and The Music Man, 1927

  • Marion [Marian] Ross, Broadway, film, and television actress, who appeared on such shows as Life With Father, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Love Boat, and Night Court, as well as on Happy Days, as Marion Cunningham, on That '70s Show as Bernice Forman, and on The Gilmore Girls as Lorelei's grandmother, 1928

  • Anthony George Papaleo, Jr., aka Anthony TONY Franciosa, actor, October 25, 1928 – January 19, 2006

  • Russell Louis RUSTY Schweickart, former astronaut, 1935

  • Robin Spry, filmmaker and television producer, October 25, 1939 - March 28, 2005,

  • Anne Tyler, novelist, whose Breathing Lessons received the Pulitzer Prize in 1989; in 1985, The Accidental Tourist was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award, 1941

  • Helen Reddy, pop singer and actress, 1941

  • Jon Anderson, musician, the lead singer for Yes, 1944

  • Glenn Raymond Tipton, one of the lead guitarists for Judas Priest, 1948

  • Robin Eubanks, jazz trombonist, has played for the Jazz Messengers; currently, he plays with bassist Dave Holland's quintet and big band; he is the brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks and trumpeter Duane Eubanks, 1955

  • Nancy Campbell Cartwright, actress and voice actor, best known as the voice of Bart Simpson; she also provides the voices of Nelson Muntz, Todd Flanders, Ralph Wiggum and Kearney on The Simpsons, 1957

  • Tracy Kristin Nelson, actress, the daughter of the late Ricky Nelson, 1963

  • Michael Boatman, actor, appeared in Spin City, China Beach, and Arli$$, 1964

  • Wendel L. Clark, former NHL hockey player, 1966

  • Lloyd Edward Elwyn ED Robertson, lead singer, guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of Barenaked Ladies, 1970

  • Adam Goldberg< actor, 1970

  • Pedro Jaime Martínez, MLB pitcher, who plays for the New York Mets, winner of three Cy Young Awards, 1971

  • Midori Goto, aka Midori, violinist, 1971

  • Sarah Thompson, actress, played Eve on Angel; is now appearing as Rose on 7th Heaven, 1979

  • Austin Peralta, jazz pianist, 1990


RIP:

  • Geoffrey Chaucer, author, poet, philosopher, courtier, and diplomat, author of The Canterbury Tales, c. 1343 – October 25, 1400

  • Evangelista Torricelli, physicist and mathematician, inventor of the barometer, October 15, 1608 – October 25, 1647

  • Karl Halle, aka Charles Hallé, was a pianist and conductor, Principal Conductor, Hallé Orchestra from 1858 to 1895, and Principal Conductors Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 1883 to 1895, April 11, 1819 in Hagen, Germany – October 25, 1895

  • W. B. BAT Masterson, buffalo hunter, U.S. Army scout, gambler, frontier lawman, U.S. Marshal, and sports editor and columnist for a New York newspaper, November 24, 1853 or 1856 – October 25, 1921

  • Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany, aka Lord Dunsany, writer and dramatist, known for his work in fantasy and horror, July 24, 1878 – October 25, 1957

  • Henry George HARRY Ferguson, pioneering aviator and businessman, whose company merged with Massey-Harris to become Massey-Harris-Ferguson Co., later Massey-Ferguson Co., November 4, 1884 - October 25, 1960

  • Roger Désormière, conductor, Principal Conductors, Orchestre National de France from 1947 to 1951, well known for having directed one of the earliest recordings of Debussy's opera Pélleas et Mélisande, September 13, 1898 - October 25, 1963

  • Eduard Einstein, the second son of Albert Einstein, July 28, 1910 – October 25, 1965

  • Cleouna CLEO Moore, actress, October 31, 1928 - October 25, 1973

  • Virgil Fox, organist, May 3, 1912 – October 25, 1980

  • Forrest Tucker, movie and television actor from the 1940's to the 1980's, February 12, 1919 - October 25, 1986

  • Wolfgang Grajonca, aka Bill Graham, concert promoter, operated the Fillmore West and Winterland in San Francisco, and the Fillmore East in New York City, January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991

  • Roger Dean Miller, singer, songwriter, and musician, January 2, 1936 – October 25, 1992

  • Vincent Leonard Price, Jr., actor, best remembered for his roles in a series of horror films where his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude were well used; in the summer of 1977, he began performing as Oscar Wilde, in the one man stage play Diversions and Delights, May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993

  • Mildred Natwick, stage and film actress, June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994

  • Robert Larimore BOBBY Riggs< tennis player, February 25, 1918 – October 25, 1995

  • Elsa VIVECA Torstensdotter Lindfors, stage and film actress, December 29, 1920 - October 25, 1995

  • Sir Richard St. John Harris, actor, singer, and songwriter, who performed on stage and in many motion pictures, known for the film roles of King Arthur in Camelot, a British aristocrat and prisoner in A Man Called Horse, and Professor Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies; he sang MacArthur Park on his A Tramp Shining album in 1968 - no comment, October 1, 1930 – October 25, 2002

  • René Thom, mathematician, who made his reputation as a topologist, moving on to what would be called singularity theory, from which work he became the founder of catastrophe theory; he received the Fields Medal in 1958, September 2, 1923 – October 25, 2002

  • John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE, aka John Peel, disc jockey, radio presenter, and journalist, August 30, 1939 – October 25, 2004


Also:
BT [British Telecom] announced today that it has acquired Counterpane Internet Security Inc., a leading provider of managed networked security services. Post-acquisition, Bruce Schneier, the founder of the company, will continue in his role as CTO.

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