Thursday, November 30, 2006

Today CCXXIV - Happy Birthday, Simon

Birthdays:

  • Jonathan Swift, priest, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and poet, famous for works like Gulliver's Travels, November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745

  • Ernest Florenz Friedrich Chladni, physicist, whose works include research on vibrating plates and the calculation of the speed of sound for different gases, November 30, 1756 – April 3, 1827

  • Jedrzej Sniadecki, writer, physician, chemist, and biologist, who created modern Polish terminology in the field of chemistry, and wrote the first Polish-language chemistry textbook, November 30, 1768 - May 12, 1838

  • Johann Carl Gottfried Löwe, composer, baritone singer; a number of his 400 or so songs are still occasionally performed, November 30, 1796 - April 20, 1869

  • Oliver Fisher Winchester, businessman and politician; he manufactured and marketed the Winchester repeating rifle, which was a much re-designed descendant of the [Smith & Wesson] Volcanic rifle of some years earlier, November 30, 1810 - December 11, 1880

  • Charles-Valentin Alkan, composer and virtuoso pianist, whose compositions for solo piano include some of the most difficult ever written, November 30, 1813 – March 29, 1888

  • Christian Matthias THEODOR Mommsen, classical scholar, jurist, and historian, whose work on Roman history is still important for contemporary research, awarded the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature, November 30, 1817 – November 1, 1903

  • Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain, author, November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910

  • Henry Birks, businessman, the founder of Henry Birks and Sons jewellery stores, November 30, 1840 – April 16, 1928

  • Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, physicist, who pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, November 30, 1858 – November 23, 1937

  • Nils Gustaf Dalén, inventor and industrialist, awarded the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on automatic gas regulator controlled buoys, November 30, 1869 – December 9, 1937

  • Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG OM CH TD FRS PC PC (Can), statesman and author, orator, strategist, and politician, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War; he was awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for his many books on English and world history, November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965

  • Lucy Maud Montgomery, author, best known for the series of novels beginning with Anne of Green Gables, November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942

  • Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian OM PRS, electrophysiologist, shared the 1932 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Sir Charles Sherrington for work on the function of neurons, November 30, 1889 – August 8, 1977

  • Frederick FIRPO Marberry, MLB starting and relief pitcher from 1923 to 1936, November 30, 1898 - June 30, 1976

  • Robert Lee McCollum, aka Robert Lee McCoy, aka Robert Nighthawk, bluesman, November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967

  • Gordon Roger Alexander Buchannan Parks, photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist, and film director, remembered for his photo essays for Life magazine, and as the director of the 1971 film Shaft, November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006

  • Walter BROWNIE McGhee, folk-blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with harmonica player Sonny Terry, November 30, 1915 - February 16, 1996

  • Professor Henry Taube, Ph.D , M.Sc , B.Sc , FRSC, chemist, awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in the mechanisms of electron-transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes, also referred to as inner-sphere electron transfer, November 30, 1915 – November 16, 2005

  • Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., actor and voice actor, known for his roles on 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I., and for several appearances as Dandy Jim Buckley on Maverick; he had a recurring role on Remington Steele, and on Babylon 5 as William Edgars, 1918

  • Virginia Clara Jones, aka Virginia Mayo, film actress, November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005

  • Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm, politician, educator, and author; she was a U.S. Congresswoman, representing New York's 11th District for seven terms from 1968,when she became the first black American woman elected to Congress, to 1983; on January 23, 1972, she became the first black American woman to make a bid to be President of the United States, November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005

  • Allan Sherman, musician, parodist, satirist, and television producer, the creator and original producer of I've Got a Secret; he released an LP of song parodies, My Son, the Folk Singer, in 1962, and a follow-up, My Son, the Celebrity, November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973

  • Richard Donald Crenna, actor, who got his acting start on radio, appearing in Boy Scout Jamboree, Date With Judy, the Great Gildersleeve, and Our Miss Brooks; he remained with the cast of the latter show when moved to television, after which he appeared on The Real McCoys; he had a long career in films, appearing in such movies as The Sand Pebbles and First Blood and its sequels; he a recurring role on Judging Amy until his death, November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003

  • Robert P. Williams, aka Robert Guillaume, stage and television actor, 1927

  • Richard Wagstaff DICK Clark, television personality and businessman, 1929

  • Joan Ganz Cooney, businesswoman and television producer, one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop, now known as Sesame Workshop, the organization famous for the creation of the TV show Sesame Street, 1929

  • Bob Loyce Moore, session musician, orchestra leader, and bassist, 1932

  • Abbott Howard ABBIE Hoffman, social and political activist, co-founder of the Youth International Party ("Yippies"), November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989

  • Dmitri Victorovich Anosov, mathematician, known for his contributions to dynamical systems theory, 1936

  • Sir Ridley Scott, film director and producer, known for films such as Alien and Blade Runner, 1937

  • Noel Paul Stookey, singer-songwriter, best known as "Paul" in the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, 1937

  • Frank Ifield, singer, who had hits with such songs as Wayward Wind and I Remember You, 1937

  • Terrence TERRYMalick, film director, 1943

  • Roger David Glover, musician, songwriter, and record producer, known as songwriter and bassist for Deep Purple, 1945

  • David Alan Mamet, playwright, screenwriter, director, poet, essayist, and novelist, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for Glengarry Glen Ross, 1947

  • June Chadwick , actress, who portrayed the Visitor Lydie on V: The Series, 1951

  • Keith Ian Giffen, comic book artist, writer, and penciller, 1952

  • Mandel Bruce MANDIY Patinkin, stage and screen actor, and tenor, who played the part of Che in Evita on Broadway in 1979, for which he won a Tony Award; on film, he played in movies such as Yentl and Ragtime, returning to Broadway in 1984 to star in Sunday in the Park with George; he played Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride; in 1994 and 1995, he he appeared as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger on Chicago Hope, winning an Emmy Award, 1952

  • June Antoinette Pointer Whitmore, vocalist, known for her work with The Pointer Sisters, November 30, 1953 — April 11, 2006

  • William Michael Albert Broad, aka Billy Idol, rock musician, 1955

  • Colin Andrew Mochrie, actor and improvisational comedian, 1957

  • Andrew Calhoun, folk singer/songwriter, 1957

  • Vincent Edward BO Jackson former multi-sport professional athlete who played football in the National Football League and baseball in the American League, the first athlete named an All-Star in both sports, 1962

  • Benjamin Edward BEN Stiller, comedian, actor, and film director, the son of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, 1965

  • Ivan Rodríguez "Pudge" Torres, MLB catcher, currently playing for the Detroit Tigers; he was the AL Most Valuable Player in 1999, and the NLCS MVP in 2003, 1971

  • Ray Durham, MLB second baseman, with the San Francisco Giants, a two-time All-Star, 1971

  • Malinda Gayle MINDY McCready, country music performer, 1975

  • James Richard RICH Harden, MLB pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, 1981

  • Elisha Ann Cuthbert, actress, 1982

  • Kaley Christine Cuoco, actress and voice actor, known for her role as Bridget Hennessy on 8 Simple Rules, 1985

  • Magnus Øen Carlsen, chess Grandmaster, the third youngest Grandmaster ever, 1990


R.I.P.:

  • Richard Farrant, composer of church music, choirmaster, playwright, and theatrical producer, known for creating the Blackfriars Theatre, ca. 1530 - November 30, 1580

  • Thomas Weelkes, composer and organist, whose works were chiefly vocal, and include madrigals and anthems, baptised October 25, 1576 – buried December 1, 1623

  • Nicolas de Grigny, organist and organ composer, whose only surviving work is a large volume of organ works, containing several mass settings and five hymns in several parts, baptized September 8, 1672 – November 30, 1703

  • Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, playwright, novelist, poet, short story writer, and Freemason; known for his barbed and clever wit, he was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day, October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900

  • Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor and composer, January 25, 1886 – November 30, 1954

  • Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, composer, May 11, 1896 - November 30, 1955

  • Beniamino Gigli, operatic tenor singer, March 20, 1890 - November 30, 1957

  • Charles DAVID Houston, country music singer, December 9, 1938 - November 30, 1993

  • Herbert Buckingham Khaury, aka Tiny Tim, singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist, April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996

  • Charles L. CHARLIE Byrd, jazz guitarist, the only jazz guitarist of his era whose primary instrument was the classical guitar, giving him his uniquely identifiable sound; studied with Andrés Segovia; well known as a collaborator with Stan Getz on the Jazz Samba album, which featured themes of samba and bossa nova, September 16, 1925 - November 30, 1999

  • Pierre Francis Berton, CC, O.Ont, BA, D.Litt, author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, television personality, journalist, and storyteller; in October, 2004, the Pierre Berton Resource Library, named in his honour, was opened in Vaughan, Ontario, July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004

  • Lois Mae Green, aka Jean Parker, movie actress, who appeared in 70 movies from 1932 through 1966, August 11, 1915 - November 30, 2005

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Today CCXXIII

Birthdays:

  • Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti, opera composer, a leading composer of bel canto opera, whose most famous work is Lucia di Lammermoor, November 29, 1797 – April 8, 1848

  • Johann Christian Andreas Doppler, mathematician and physicist, famous for the hypothesis of what is now known as the Doppler effect, November 29, 1803 – March 17, 1853

  • Louisa May Alcott, novelist, known for her novel Little Women, loosely based on her childhood experiences with her three sisters, November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888

  • Sir John Ambrose Fleming, electrical engineer and physicist, who invented and patented the two-electrode vacuum-tube rectifier, aka the vacuum diode; the first vacuum tube, this invention is often considered to have been the beginning of electronics; he also contributed in the fields of photometry, electronics, wireless telegraphy, and electrical measurements, November 29, 1849 - April 18, 1945

  • António Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas Moniz, psychiatrist and neurosurgeon, who shared the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Walter Rudolf Hess, November 29, 1874 - December 13, 1955

  • Lucille Nelson Hegemin, singer and entertainer, a pioneer blues recording artist, November 29, 1894 - March 1, 1970

  • William Berkeley Enos, aka Busby Berkeley, Hollywood movie director and musical choreographer, November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976

  • Enos Edward YAKIMA Canutt, actor and stuntman; as a young man, he gained fame as a successful rodeo rider; he met actor Tom Mix at a rodeo, and was persuaded to work as a cowboy in films; he staged some memorable action scenes in film, including the chariot race in the 1959 film Ben-Hur; in 1967, he was given an Honorary Academy Award for achievements as a stunt man, and for developing safety devices to protect stunt men, November 29, 1896 - May 24, 1986

  • Clive Staples [C. S.] Lewis, author and scholar, known for his work on medieval literature, Christian apologetics, literary criticism, and fiction; he is known today for his children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia, November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963

  • Mildred Harris, silent film actress, November 29, 1901 - July 20, 1944

  • Rev Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., politician; he was elected to the US House of Representatives from Harlem in 1945, and became chair of the Labor and Education Committee in 1961, November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972

  • William Thomas BILLY Strayhorn, composer and pianist, known for his long and successful collaboration with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington; he composed the Ellington Band's theme, Take The A Train, and a number of other pieces that became part of the band’s repertoire. November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967

  • Fran Ryan, character actress, who appeared as Aggie Thompson on The Doris Day Show, Doris Ziffel on Green Acres, and Miss Hannah Cobb on Gunsmoke, November 29, 1916 – January 15, 2000

  • Merle Robert Travis, country and western singer, songwriter, and musician, known for his guitar playing; Travis picking, a style of guitar picking, is named after him; he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977, November 29, 1917 – October 20, 1983

  • Virginia Ruth Egnor, aka Jennie Lewis, aka Dagmar, model and television personality, November 29, 1921 – October 9, 2001

  • Saturnino Orestes Armas MINNIE Miñoso Arrieta, former MLB left fielder, who had been a third baseman in the Negro Leagues, and played several seasons in Mexican baseball; he was an All-Star in 1951 to 1954, 1957, 1959, and 1960, and a Gold Glove Award winner in 1957, 1959, and 1960 (AL), 1922

  • Vincent Edward VIN Scully, sportscaster, known as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, 1927

  • John Mayall, OBE, blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and influential in the careers of many musicians, including Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, 1933

  • Peter Bergman, comedian and playwright, a founding member of The Firesign Theatre, 1939

  • Chuck Mangione, flugelhorn player and composer, 1940

  • Dennis Gerrard Stephen DENNY Doherty,singer and songwriter, a member of The Mamas & the Papas, 1940

  • Philippe Huttenlocher, baritone singer, 1942

  • Rose Diane Lanier, aka Diane Ladd, television and film actress, and author, 1942

  • Felix Cavaliere, music producer and musician, who played keyboards for the Young Rascals during the 1960's, 1944

  • Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez, singer-songwriter and guitarist, 1946

  • Garry Shandling , comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director, who was the star of It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show, 1949

  • Barry Goudreau, musician, one of the original guitarists for Boston, 1951

  • Joel Coen, director, screenwriter, producer, and film editor, 1954

  • Howie Michael Mandel, comedian and actor, 1955

  • Cathy Moriarty, actress, 1960

  • Kim Delaney, actress, 1961

  • Thomas Edward TOM Sizemore, Jr., film and television actor, 1961

  • Andrew McCarthy, actor, 1962

  • Don Cheadle, actor, who first became well-known for playing the DA on Picket Fences; in 2005, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda, 1964

  • Mariano Rivera, MLB relief pitcher for the New York Yankees; he has the fourth most regular season career saves in MLB history, 1969

  • Gena Lee Nolin, actress and model, 1971

  • Anna Kay Faris, actress, 1976

  • Francis Beltrán, MLB relief pitcher, currently in the Washington Nationals farm system, 1979

  • Krystal Steal, actress, 1982


R.I.P.:

  • Claudio Monteverdi, composer, violinist, and singer, whose work marks the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music, May 15, 1567 – November 29, 1643

  • Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, composer, whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire, December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924

  • Samuel Alfred de Grasse, actor, who appeared in 107 films, including The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance, June 12, 1875 - November 29, 1953

  • Milt Gross, comic book writer, illustrator, and animator, who wrote his comics in a Yiddish-inflected English, as in his reworkings of well-known tales, such as Nize ferry-tail from Elledin witt de wanderful lemp, Jack witt de binn stuck, and De Night in De Front From Chreesmas, March 4, 1895 – November 29, 1953

  • Oliver DINK Johnson, jazz pianist, clarinetist, drummer, and songwriter, who made his first recordings in 1922 on clarinet with Kid Ory's Band, October 28, 1892 – November 29, 1954

  • Erich Wolfgang Korngold, neoromantic composer, who composed a number of film scores, and wrote concert music in a rich, chromatic late Romantic style, May 29, 1897 – November 29, 1957

  • Carl W. Stalling, composer and arranger of music for animated cartoons, closely associated with the Looney Tunes shorts produced by Warner Bros, November 10, 1891 – November 29, 1972

  • Herbert ZEPPO Marx, one of The Marx Brothers; he appeared in the first five Marx Brothers movies, as a straight man and romantic lead, before leaving the team, February 25, 1901 – November 29, 1979

  • Dr. Fredric Wertham, psychiatrist and crusading author, who protested the supposedly harmful effects of mass media — comic books in particular — on the development of children, March 20, 1895 – November 29, 1981

  • Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko, aka Natalie Wood, film actress, July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981

  • Archibald Alexander Leach, aka Cary Grant, actor, January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986

  • Ralph Rexford Bellamy, actor, June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991

  • Jean-Alexandre-Eugène Dieudonné, mathematician, known for research in abstract algebra and functional analysis, July 1, 1906 - November 29, 1992

  • Eugene Rubessa, aka Gene Rayburn, radio and television personality, and game show host, December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999

  • George Harrison, MBE, guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer, and film producer, the lead guitarist of The Beatles, February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001

  • John Blyth Barrymore, Jr., aka John Drew Barrymore, actor, a member of the Barrymore family of actors, the father of Drew Barrymore, June 4, 1929 – November 29, 2004

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

  • Wendie Jo Sperber, television and movie comedic actress, September 15, 1958 — November 29, 2005

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Today CCXXII

Birthdays:

  • Friedrich Engels, political philosopher, developed communist theory alongside Karl Marx, co-authoring The Communist Manifesto and editing several volumes of Das Kapital after Marx's death, November 28, 1820 – August 5, 1895

  • Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein, pianist, composer, and conductor, who wrote at least twenty operas, five piano concerti, six symphonies, and a large number of solo piano works, along with works for chamber ensemble, two concertos for cello and one for violin, free-standing orchestral works, and tone poems, November 28, 1829 – November 20, 1894

  • John Wesley Hyatt, inventor, known for simplifying the production of celluloid, while researching a substitute for ivory to produce billiard balls, November 28, 1837 – 1920

  • Jose Iturbi, conductor and pianist, November 28, 1895 - June 28, 1980

  • Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist, who developed structuralism as a method of understanding human society and culture, 1908

  • Gloria Hallward, aka Gloria Grahame, film actress, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1952 for The Bad and the Beautiful, November 28, 1923 - October 5, 1981

  • Berry Gordy, Jr., record producer and founder of the Motown record label, 1929

  • Hope Elise Ross Lange, stage, film, and television actress, November 28, 1931 – December 19, 2003

  • Jean-Thomas TOMI Ungerer, illustrator, known for his erotic and political illustrations, and for children's books, 1931

  • Ray Perkins, vocalist, bass singer for the vocal quartet, The Crew-Cuts, 1932

  • Michael Ritchie, film director, November 28, 1938 - April 16, 2001

  • Bruce McMeans, aka Bruce Channel, singer, songwriter, and harmonica player, who had a hit with Hey! Baby, which he co-wrote with Margaret Cobb, 1940

  • Randall Stuart RANDY Newman, songwriter, arranger, singer, and pianist, 1943

  • Ronald Bertram Aloysius [R.B.] Greaves III, singer, whose 1969 song Take A Letter Maria, went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U. S., 1944

  • Joseph Domenick JOE Dante, film director and producer of films, generally with humorous and scifi content, 1946

  • Aleksandr Borisovich Godunov, ballet dancer and actor, whose defected from Russia to the United States; he played the terrorist, Karl, in Die Hard, November 28, 1949, Sakhalin, USSR — May 18, 1995

  • Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer, 1949

  • Edward Allen ED Harris, actor, director and producer, 1950

  • Russell Alan Hulse Ph.D., physicist, a specialist in pulsar studies and gravitational waves, who shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics with his thesis advisor Joseph Hooton Taylor. Jr. for the discovery of the first binary pulsar, 1950

  • S. Epatha Merkerson, award-winning actress, known for her role as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on Law & Order, 1952

  • Sixto Joaquin Lezcano Curras, former MLB outfielder, who played from 1974 to 1985; his best season came in 1979 with the Milwaukee Brewers, when he hit a for .321 batting average, with 28 home runs and 101 RBI's; he won a Gold Glove in 1979, 1953

  • David Allan DAVE Righetti, former MLB left-handed pitcher, who was a starter and a reliever at different points in his 16-year career; he was the Al Rookie of the Year in 1981; he was an All-Star and the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year in 1986 and 1987; he led the American League in saves in 1986, with 46; on the July 4, 1983, he threw a 4-0 no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox; he finished his career with 252 saves, a 3.46 ERA, and a record of 82-79 in 718 games, 1958

  • Judd Asher Nelson, actor and writer, 1959

  • Martin Clunes, actor, known as Gary in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly; his first television appearance was on the Doctor Who serial Snakedance, 1961

  • Alfonso Cuarón Orozco, film director, screenwriter, and producer, 1961

  • Jane Sibbett, actress, 1962

  • Paul Dinello, actor, writer, and director, an alumnus of Chicago's Second City, known for his role on Strangers with Candy, with Stephen Colbert, 1962

  • Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, aka Jon Stewart, comedian, satirist, actor, author, and producer, best known as the host of The Daily Show and for his political satire; he is a nine-time Emmy Award winner, 1962

  • Matthew D. MATT Cameron, musician, drummer and back-up vocalist for Soundgarden, 1986 to 1997, and Pearl Jam, 1998 to the present, 1962

  • Walter William WALT Weiss, former MLB shortstop from 1987 to 2000; he won the 1988 Rookie of the Year Award, and was an NL All-Star in 1998, 1963

  • Matthew Derrick MATT Williams, former MLB third baseman, who played from 1987 to 2003; he was an All-Star in 1990, 1994 to 1996, and 1999, and a Gold Glove Award winner in 1991, 1993, 1994, and 1997; he led NL in home runs in 1994 with 43; he holds the Arizona Diamondbacks' record for RBI with 142 in 1999; he is now a part owner in the Diamondbacks franchise, and occasionally serves as color commentator on Diamondbacks radio and television broadcasts, 1965

  • Vickie Lynn Hogan, aka Anna Nicole Smith, model, actress, and celebrity, who first gained fame as the 1993 Playmate of the Year, 1967

  • Stephnie Weir, actress and comedian, one of the recurring cast on MADtv, 1967

  • Robert Allan ROBB Nen, former MLB right-handed closer, who played from 1993 to 2002, after which he injured his pitching arm, and has not played since; he has 314 career saves, and is currently the all-time saves leader for the San Francisco Giants with 206; on February 20, 2005, he announced his retirement, 1969

  • born Clifton Todd Britt, aka Lexington Steele, actor and director, 1969

  • Mary Elizabeth Winstead, actress, 1984

  • Scarlett Noelle Pomers, actress and singer, who works in television, film, theatre, and music; she made her acting debut at the age of three in a music video; her best-known roles have been as Naomi Wildman on Star Trek: Voyager, and as Kyra Hart on Reba; as a singer, she founded the band Scarlett, 1988


R.I.P.:

  • Hernando Franco, composer of the Renaissance,

  • Giovanni Paolo Colonna, musician and composer, c. 1637 - November 28, 1695

  • Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau, Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682, and from 1689 to 1698; he established a number of forts on the Great Lakes, and engaged in a series of battles against the English and the Iroquois; in his first term, he supported the expansion of the fur trade, establishing Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, Ontario; Quebec's most famous building and landmark, the Château Frontenac, is named after him, May 12, 1622 – November 28, 1698

  • Johann Peter Salomon, violinist, composer, conductor, and musical impresario, baptized February 20, 1745 - November 28, 1815

  • Washington Irving, author, best known for his short stories, such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip van Winkle, but a prolific writer of essays, biographies, and other forms as well, April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859

  • Erich Moritz von Hornbostel, ethnomusicologist and scholar of music, known for his pioneering work in ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs-Hornbostel system of musical instrument classification which he co-authored with Curt Sachs; he studied the piano, harmony, and counterpoint as a child, but his Ph.D. was in chemistry, February 25, 1877 - November 28, 1935

  • James Naismith, M.A., M.D., D.D., physical education teacher and coach, the inventor of basketball, and the first to introduce the use of a helmet in American football, November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939

  • Dwight Filley Davis, tennis player and politician, known as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition, July 5, 1879 – November 28, 1945

  • Enrico Fermi, physicist most noted for his work on beta decay, the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for the development of quantum theory; he was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity - the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, September 29, 1901–November 28, 1954

  • Enid Mary Blyton, children's author, whose most widely known character is Noddy, August 11, 1897 – November 28, 1968

  • William HAVERGAL Brian, composer, who acquired an almost legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950's and 1960's for the number of symphonies he had written - thirty-two, an unusually large number for any composer since Beethoven, January 29, 1876 – November 28, 1972

  • Ernestine JANE Geraldine Russell, actress, recipient of the 1989 Women's International Center Living Legacy Award, 1921

  • Trevor Bardette, actor, who made over 170 movies and seventy TV appearances in his career; he had a couple of roles on Adventures of Superman, in the 1951 episode The Human Bomb, and the 1954 episode Great Caesar's Ghost, November 19, 1902 – November 28, 1977

  • Christopher John George, actor, known for his role on The Rat Patrol, as the bounty hunter in the John Wayne movie Chisum, and as Ben Richards on The Immortal, February 25, 1929 - November 28, 1983

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

  • Jerry Rubin, social activist, organizer of the VDC (Vietnam Day Committee), led some of the first protests against the war in Vietnam, a cofounder of the Yippies (Youth International Party) with Abbie Hoffman, one of the "Chicago Seven," July 14, 1938 – November 28, 1994

  • Kalman Cohen, aka Kal Mann, lyricist, who began his career in entertainment as a comedy writer, until songwriter Bernie Lowe encouraged him to try writing lyrics; he co-wrote songs with Lowe and Dave Appell, resulting in a number of rock and roll No.1 hits such as Elvis Presley's Teddy Bear, Bobby Rydell's Wild One, and Chubby Checker's Let's Twist Again, May 6, 1917 - November 28, 2001

  • Dave "Snaker" Ray, blues singer and guitarist, August 17, 1943 – November 28, 2002

  • Patricia Guilia Caulfield Kate Rubinstein, aka Antonia Forest, children's author, May 26, 1915 - November 28, 2003

Monday, November 27, 2006

Today CCXXI

Birthdays:

  • Anders Celsius, astronomer, known for the Celsius temperature scale, first proposed in a paper to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1742; the Celsius crater on the Moon is named after him, November 27, 1701 – April 25, 1744

  • Sir Julius Benedict, composer and conductor, November 27, 1804 - June 5, 1885

  • Sir Charles Scott Sherrington OM GBE, scientist known for his contributions to physiology and neuroscience, who shared the 1932 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edgar Douglas Adrian for for their discoveries regarding the functions of neurons, November 27, 1857 – March 4, 1952

  • Charles Louis Eugène Koechlin, composer, teacher, and writer on music, November 27, 1867 – December 31, 1950

  • Giovanni Giorgi, electrical engineer, who invented the Giorgi system of measurement, the precursor to the International System, November 27, 1871 - August 19, 1950

  • Chaim Azriel Weizmann, chemist and statesman, the President of the World Zionist Organization, first President of Israel, and founder of a research institute in Israel which became the Weizmann Institute of Science, November 27, 1874 – November 9, 1952

  • Konosuke Matsushita, industrialist, the founder of Matsushita Electric, November 27, 1894 – April 27, 1989

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

  • Lyon Sprague de Camp, science fiction and fantasy author; in a writing career spanning fifty years, he wrote over one hundred novels, as well as works of nonfiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors; he won the Nebula Award as a Grandmaster in 1978, and the Hugo Award in 1997 for his autobiography Time and Chance; in 1976, he received the World Science Fiction Society's Gandalf Grand Master award; in 1995, he won the first Sidewise Award for Alternate History Lifetime Achievement Award, November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000

  • Anatoly Ivanovich Maltsev, mathematician noted, for his work on the decidability of various algebraic groups; Maltsev algebras are named after him, November 27, 1909 - June 7, 1967

  • David Lee Margulies, aka David Merrick, theatrical producer and director, associated with both musicals and dramas, November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000

  • Francis Dayle CHICK Hearn, November 27, 1916 - August 5, 2002

  • Robert Schmidt, aka Buffalo Bob Smith, TV host, who got his start in radio as a singer and musician; he was the host of the children's show Howdy Doody, November 27, 1917 - July 30, 1998

  • Sir John Royden Maddox, chemist, physicist, and science writer, 1925

  • Ernest Wiseman, aka Ernie Wise OBE, comedian, one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, November 27, 1925 – March 21, 1999

  • Marshall Thompson, film and television actor, November 27, 1925 - May 18, 1992

  • Jacques Godbout, novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker, and poet, 1933

  • Al Jackson, Jr., musician, producer, and songwriter, the drummer and co-founder of Booker T. & the MG's, November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975

  • Dave Giusti, former MLB pitcher, who played from 1962 to 1977; he was an NL All-Star in 1973, and won The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award in 1971, 1939

  • Bruce Jun Fan Lee, martial artist and actor, perhaps the most influential, well-known, and celebrated martial artist of the 20th century, November 27, 1940 - July 20, 1973

  • Eddie Rabbitt, country music singer, November 27, 1941 - May 7, 1998

  • James Marshall JIMI Hendrix, musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, innovator, and cultural icon; a self-taught musician, the left-handed Hendrix played a right-handed Fender Stratocaster guitar turned upside down and re-strung; he exploited the sonic tools of feedback and distortion; he was inducted into the U.S. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005; in 2006, Are You Experienced was inducted into the United States National Recording Preservation Board's National Recording Registry; Listen to his music!, November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970

  • James L. Avery, Sr., 6'5", classically-trained TV actor, scholar, and voice actor, known for his role as judge Philip Banks, aka Uncle Phil, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 1948

  • Jayne Harrison Kennedy, actress, model, and sportscaster, 1951

  • James Donald WEXBEE Wetherbee, former astronaut, a veteran of six space shuttle missions, 1952

  • Kathryn Bigelow, film director, working in genres like science fiction, action, and horror, 1952

  • Daryl Mark Stuermer, musician, who played guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most of his solo tours, 1952

  • Curtis Armstrong, actor and voice actor, who had a recurring role as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting; well known for his role in the movie Revenge of the Nerds, and its film and TV movie sequels, 1953

  • Patricia McPherson, actress and wildlife activist, known for her role as Bonnie Barstow on Knight Rider, 1954

  • William S. Nye, aka Bill Nye the Science Guy, television host, scientist, and mechanical engineer, 1955

  • William BILL Edward Fichtner, character actor, who starred on Invasion as Sheriff Tom Underlay, and now plays Agent Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, 1956

  • Caroline Bouvier Kennedy, journalist and author, the daughter and only surviving child of John F. Kennedy, currently the president of the Kennedy Library Foundation, and the chairperson of the American Ballet Theatre, 1957

  • Michael Lorri MIKE Scioscia, former MLB catcher, who spent his entire career, 1980-1992, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and current Dodgers' manager' he was named the 2002 AL Manager of Year, 1958

  • Charles CHARLIE Burchill, guitarist, keyboard player, violinist, and composer, a co-founder of Simple Minds, 1959

  • Steve Oedekerk, film director, producer, writer, actor, and stand-up comedian, 1961

  • Robin Simone Givens, actress, who appeared on The Cosby Show and Diff'rent Strokes; she achieved fame with the role of Darlene Merriman on the sitcom Head of the Class; she performed in New York in the Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues, 1964

  • Andy Merrill, voice actor, 1966

  • Jaleel Ahmad White, actor and voice actor, who played Steve Urkel on Family Matters, 1976

  • James Calvin JIMMY Rollins, MLB shortstop with the Philadelphia Phillies, an NL All-Star in 2001, 2002, and 2005, 1978

  • Hilary Hahn, Grammy Award–winning violinist, 1979

  • Alison Courtney Pill, film, television and theatre actress, 1985


R.I.P.:

  • Guillaume Dufay, composer and music theorist of the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance, August 5, 1397 – November 27, 1474

  • Abraham de Moivre, mathematician, developer of de Moivre's formula, which links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory, May 26, 1667 – November 27, 1754

  • Andrew Meikle, mechanical engineer credited with inventing the threshing machine; he also invented windmill spring sails, made from a series of shutters that could be operated by levers, allowing windmill sails to be quickly and safely controlled in the event of a storm, 1719 – November 27, 1811

  • Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, known for having written a description of Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine; she translated Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea's memoir on Babbage's newest proposed machine, the Analytical Engine, appending a set of notes which specified in complete detail a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers with the Engine, recognized by historians as the world's first computer program; on December 10, 1980, her birthday, the U.S. Defense Department approved the reference manual for its new computer programming language, called Ada, December 10, 1815 – November 27, 1852

  • Alexandre Dumas, fils, author and playwright, July 27, 1824 – November 27, 1895

  • Clement Studebaker, carriage manufacturer; with his brothers, he founded Studebaker, which built wagons, carriages, and automobiles, March 12, 1831 – November 27, 1901

  • Amalia Putty, aka Lya De Putti, film actress of the silent era, noted for her portrayal of vamp characters, January 10, 1899 - November 27, 1931

  • Evelyn Jarvis, aka Eveleyn Preer, stage and screen actress, and blues singer, July 16, 1896 - November 27, 1932

  • Leonid Isaakovich Mandelstam, physicist, the main emphasis of whose work was broadly considered theory of oscillations, which included optics and quantum mechanics; he was a co-discoverer of inelastic scattering of light used in Raman spectroscopy, May 4, 1879 - November 27, 1944

  • Eugene Gladstone O'Neill, playwright, won several Pulitzer Prizes; awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize for Literature, October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953

  • Oscar-Arthur Honegger, aka Arthur Honegger, composer, March 10, 1892 – November 27, 1955

  • Artur Rodzinski, conductor, Musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1929 to 1933, the Cleveland Orchestra from 1933 to 1943, the New York Philharmonic from 1943–1947, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1947 to 1948, January 1, 1892 - November 27, 1958

  • Frank Joseph Christian, early jazz trumpeter, started working with bandleader Papa Jack Laine about 1908; formed the Original New Orleans Jazz Band with whom he recorded on cornet in 1918 and 1919; he was originally the leader of the band, but later turned leadership over to the band's pianist, Jimmie Durante, September 3, 1887 - November 27, 1973

  • Alan ROSS McWhirter, co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records, with his twin brother, Norris, August 12, 1925 – November 27, 1975

  • Harvey Bernard Milk, politician and gay rights activist, assassinated in 1978, May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978

  • George Richard Moscone, mayor of San Francisco from January, 1976, until his assassination in November 1978, November 24, 1929 – November 27, 1978

  • Karoline Wilhelmine Blamauer, aka Lotte Lenya, singer and actress, best known for her performance as Jenny in Kurt Weill's and Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, and for other Brecht-Weill plays; she played Rosa Klebb in the movie From Russia with Love, October 18, 1898 – November 27, 1981

  • Richmond Reed Carradine, aka Peter Richmond, aka John Carradine, actor, who appeared in ten John Ford productions, including The Grapes of Wrath, portrayed Aaron in The Ten Commandments, did considerable stage work, and appeared on Broadway; he appeared in more than 250 movies, and many television shows; he was the father of actors David Carradine, Robert Carradine, Keith Carradine, and Bruce Carradine, February 5, 1906 - November 27, 1988

  • David White, stage, film, and television actor; he playes the role of Larry Tate on Bewitched for the show's entire run, 1964 to 1972, April 4, 1916 - November 27, 1990

  • Fernando Lopes-Graça, GOSE, GCIH, composer and musicologist, December 17, 1906 - November 27, 1994

  • Barbara Acklin, soul singer, whose biggest hit was Love Makes a Woman, February 28, 1943 - November 27, 1998

  • Jocelyn Brando, character actress, who appeared in The Ugly American and The Chase with her brother, Marlon Brando, November 18, 1919 – November 27, 2005

  • Joe Jones, R&B singer, songwriter and arranger; as a singer, his greatest hit was You Talk Too Much; he composed many songs, including Iko Iko; he is credited with discovering The Dixie Cups, August 12, 1926 – November 27, 2005

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Today CCXX

Birthdays:

  • Sarah Moore Grimké, attorney and judge, abolitionist and feminist, who fought as hard for women's rights was as for the abolition of slavery; she taught her personal slave how to read, even though doing so was against the law, November 26, 1792 - December 23, 1873

  • Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, feminist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, spy, prisoner of war, surgeon, and the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor, November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919

  • Karl RUDOLPH Koenig, physicist, chiefly concerned with acoustic phenomena, known for his tuning forks; acoustical research was his real interest, and to that he devoted all the time and money he could spare from his business, November 26, 1832 - October 2, 1901

  • Karl Friedrich Benz, engine designer and automobile engineer, considered to be the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile; among other things, he invented the carburetor, the speed regulation system [accelerator], ignition using sparks from a battery, the spark plug, the clutch, the gear shift, and the water radiator, November 26, 1844 – April 4, 1929

  • Willis Haviland Carrier, engineer and inventor, the man who invented modern air conditioning, November 26, 1876 – October 9, 1950

  • Alfred Denis Cortot, pianist and conductor, September 26, 1877 – June 15, 1962

  • Albert Dieudonné, actor, screenwriter, film director, and novelist, November 26, 1889 - March 19, 1976

  • Norbert Wiener Ph.D., theoretical and applied mathematician, a pioneer in the study of stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems, best known as the founder of cybernetics, a field that formalizes the notion of feedback and has implications for engineering, systems control, computer science, biology, philosophy, and the organization of society, November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964

  • William Griffith BILL Wilson, co-founder, with Dr. Bob Smith, of Alcoholics Anonymous, November 26, 1895 – January 24, 1971

  • Karl Waldemar Ziegler, chemist, shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for work on high polymers, with Giulio Natta, November 26, 1898 – August 12, 1973

  • Dr. Armand Frappier CC, physician, microbiologist, and expert, who was instrumental in the fight against tuberculosis in Canada, and as one of the first researchers to confirm the safety and usefulness of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine, November 26, 1904 – December 17, 1991

  • Robert Lee BOB Johnson, MLB left fielder, who played from 1933 to 1945; he had nine consecutive seasons of 20 or more home runs, batting .300 five times, and had eight seasons with 100 runs batted in; he compiled a .296 career batting average with 2051 hits, 396 doubles, 95 triples, 96 stolen bases, 1283 RBI, 1239 runs, .506 slugging average, 3501 total bases, and 1075 walks, in 1863 games; he hit for the cycle on July 6, 1944, November 26, 1905 - July 6, 1982

  • Dr. Ruth Myrtle Patrick Ph.D., botanist and limnologist, specializing in diatoms and freshwater ecology, who developed ways to measure the health of freshwater ecosystems, 1907

  • Vernon Louis LEFTY Gómez, MLB left-handed pitcher, who played for the New York Yankees from 1930 and 1942; he had a 189 - 102 record with 1468 strikeouts and a 3.34 ERA in 2503 innings pitched; a 20-game winner four times, and an All-Star every year from 1933 to 1939, he led the league twice each in wins, winning percentage, and ERA, and three times each in shutouts and strikeouts; in 1934 and 1937, he won pitching's Triple Crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, and led the AL both seasons in shutouts; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1972, November 26, 1908 - February 17, 1989

  • Eugen Ionescu, aka Eugène Ionesco, playwright, poet, essayist, novelist and story writer, and librettist, November 26, 1909 – March 29, 1994

  • Frances Marion Dee, actress, November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004

  • Cyril Cusack, actor, November 26, 1910 – October 7, 1993

  • Eric Sevareid, news journalist and war correspondent, November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992

  • Earl Wild, virtuoso pianist, 1951

  • Daniel M. Petrie, television and movie director; one of his most famous credits was 1961's Raisin in the Sun, November 26, 1920 - August 22, 2004

  • Charles Monroe Schulz, cartoonist, famous for his Peanuts comic strip, November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000

  • Eugene George Istomin, pianist, November 26, 1925 – October 10, 2003

  • Ernest ERNIE Coombs, CM, children's entertainer, best known as Mr. Dressup, November 26, 1927 – September 18, 2001

  • Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, architect, sculptor, professor of architecture, and human rights activist, who led protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas; he was awarded the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, 1931

  • Robert Gerard Goulet, singer and actor, who achieved fame in 1960 as Lancelot in Lerner and Loewe's Broadway musical Camelot; his career encompasses theatre, radio, television, and film, 1933

  • Boris Borisovich Yegorov, doctor and cosmonaut, earned a doctorate in medicine, with his specialisation being the sense of balance, November 26, 1937 – September 12, 1994

  • Professor Rodney Leonard Jory AM, physicist, 1938

  • Richard Caruthers RICH Little, comedian, best known for his celebrity impersonations, 1938

  • Anna Mae Bullock, aka Tina Turner, singer and actress, 1939

  • Bruce Paltrow, television and film producer, father of Gwyneth Paltrow, November 26, 1943 – October 3, 2002

  • Jean Terrell, R&B and jazz singer, best known for having replaced Diana Ross in The Supremes in 1970, 1944

  • Daniel Davis, actor, known for his role of Niles, the butler, on The Nanny, and as Professor Moriarty in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1945

  • John Graham McVie, musician, the bass guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, with whom he has played from very soon after its formation in 1967 to the present day, 1945

  • Shlomo Artzi, singer and composer, 1948

  • Anna Ilona Staller, aka Cicciolina, porn star turned politician, the first hardcore performer to be elected to a democratic parliament, 1951

  • Harold Craig Reynolds, former MLB switch-hitting second baseman, who played from 1983 to 1994; he was an All-Star in 1987 and 1988, and led the American League in stolen bases with 60 in 1987, in triples with 11 in 1988, and in at-bats with 642 in 1990; he was a career .258 hitter with 21 home runs and 353 RBI in 1374 games; a superb fielder, he regularly led the league in double plays turned and won three Gold Glove Awards; he was a studio analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight from 1996 to 2006, and a commentator for ESPN's coverage of the College World Series and Little League World Series, 1960

  • Charles Edward CHUCK Finley, former MLB left-handed pitcher, who played from 1986 to 2002, compiling a 200-173 record with a 3.85 ERA and 2,610 strikeouts over 3197 1/3 innings; he is the only pitcher to strike out four players in one inning more than once, having done it three times, 1962

  • Adriana Molinari, aka Alex Taylor, actress, 1970

  • Brian Duncan Schneider, MLB catcher, currently the starting catcher for the Washington Nationals, 1976

  • Aurora Snow, actress and occasional director, 1981


R.I.P.:

  • Daniel Purcell, composer, the younger brother of Henry Purcell, 1664 - November 26, 1717

  • John Loudon McAdam, engineer and road-builder, who invented a new process, for building roads with a smooth hard surface that would be more durable and less muddy than soil-based tracks; this construction method became known as macadamization or macadam; the most significant later improvement was the introduction of tar to bind the road surface's stones together, producing tarmac (Tar Macadam), September 21, 1756 - November 26, 1836

  • Thomas Andrews, chemist and physicist, who did important work on phase transitions between gases and liquids, December 19, 1813 – November 26, 1885

  • Bill Doak, MLB pitcher, who played for 11 years; his lifetime record is 169-157, with an ERA of 2.98 and 1014 strikouts; in 1920, he suggested to Rawlings that a web should laced between the first finger and thumb, creating a natural pocket; the Bill Doak glove soon replaced all other baseball gloves, and is the standard to this day,January 28, 1891 - November 26, 1954

  • Thomas Francis TOMMY Dorsey, Jr., jazz trombonist and bandleader in the Big Band era, the younger brother of Jimmy Dorsey, with whom he formed the original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, in 1934, November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956

  • Albert William Ketèlbey, composer, conductor, and pianist, who wrote In a Monastery Garden and In a Persian Market among other works, August 9, 1875 - November 26, 1959

  • Amelita Galli-Curci, operatic coloratura soprano, November 18, 1882 – November 26, 1963

  • Machgielis MAX Euwe, chess player, the fifth player to become World Chess Champion (1935–1937), May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981

  • Michael Bentine, comedian and comic actor, a member of the Goons, January 26, 1922 - November 26, 1996
  • Phillipe Claude Alex de Broca de Ferrussac, film director, best known for his comedies with Jean-Paul Belmondo, March 15, 1933 - November 26, 2004

  • Stan Berenstain, writer and illustrator best known for creating the children's book series The Berenstain Bears, with his wife, Jan, September 29, 1923 - November 26, 2005

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Today CCXIX

Birthdays:

  • Mary Anne Galton Schimmelpenninck, writer in the anti-slavery movement, great name!, November 25, 1778 - August 29, 1856

  • Julius Robert von Mayer, physician and physicist, who described the chemical process now referred to as oxidation as the primary source of energy for living creatures, November 25, 1814 – March 20, 1878

  • Andrew Carnegie, businessman and philanthropist, November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919

  • Ernst Schröder, mathematician, known for his work on algebraic logic, November 25, 1841 – June 16, 1902

  • Henry Ware Eliot, industrialist and philantropist, the father of T. S. Eliot, November 25, 1843 – January 7, 1919

  • Carrie Amelia Moore Nation, famous member of the temperance movement in pre-Prohibition America, November 25, 1846 – June 9, 1911

  • Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin, pianist and composer, November 25, 1862 - February 17, 1901

  • Winthrop Ames, theatrical director and producer, playwright, screenwriter, and theatre owner/operator, November 25, 1870 - November 3, 1937

  • Merrill C. Meigs, publisher of the Chicago Herald and Examiner in the 1920's; he became a pilot, and a booster of Chicago as a world center of aviation; he gave flying lessons to president Harry S. Truman, November 25, 1883 - January 26, 1968

  • Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, botanist and geneticist, known for having identified the centres of origin of cultivated plants, who organized a series of botanical-agronomic expeditions all over the world in the development of his theory about centers of origin, November 25, 1887 — January 26, 1943

  • Wilhelm Kempff, pianist and composer, November 25, 1895 – May 23, 1991

  • Virgil Thomson, composer and music critic for the New York Herald-Tribune from 1940 through 1954, studied with Nadia Boulanger; in the 1930s, he worked as a theatre and film composer; he won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1949 with his film score for Louisiana Story, November 25, 1896 - September 30, 1989

  • Antonio TONI Ortelli, alpinist, conductor, and composer, November 25, 1904 - March 3, 2000,

  • Lewis Thomas, physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher, November 25, 1913 - December 3, 1993

  • Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr., aka Joseph Paul JOE DiMaggio, MLB centre fielder, who played his entire MLB career, 1936 to 1951, for the New York Yankees; he had the longest hitting streak in MLB history, 56 games from May 15 to July 17, 1941; he was a three-time MVP winner, in 1939, 1941, and 1947, and 13-time All-Star; he led the league in batting average in 1939, with .381, and 1940, with .352; in his career, he amassed 361 home runs, averaged 118 RBI's annually, compiled a .325 lifetime batting average, and struck out only 369 times; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955, November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999

  • Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán Merino, aka Ricardo Montalbán, television, theatre, and film actor, known for his roles as Mr. Roarke on the series Fantasy Island, and Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1920

  • Noel Neill, actress, known for roles in the Superman franchise; she played Lois Lane in the 1948 and 1950 Saturday movie serials with Kirk Alyn playing Clark Kent/Superman, and on TV's Adventures of Superman, from the second season on, with George Reeves; she had a cameo in Superman: The Movie as Lois Lane's mother, with Kirk Alyn as Lois' father in the same; she had a cameo on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman with Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen) as an office worker at the Daily Planet; she plays the role of Gertrude Vanderworth, a dying widow, in Superman Returns, 1920

  • Henry Herman McKinnies, Jr, aka Jeffrey Hunter, film and television actor, who played Captain Christopher Pike in the pilot episode of Star Trek, November 25, 1926 - May 27, 1969

  • Poul William Anderson, science fiction author, sixth President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SAGA), a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors Gandalf Grand Master in 1978, the Hugo Award seven times, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 2000, the Nebula Award three times, the Prometheus Award four times, including Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2001, and the SFWA Grand Master Award in 1997, November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001

  • Olive Kathryn Grandstaff, aka Kathryn Grant, aka Kathryn Crosby, actress and singer, 1933

  • Reinhard Alfred Furrer, physicist, pilot, and astronaut; during his time as a student in Berlin, he was involved in the building of the 145 metre long Tunnel 57 below the Berlin Wall, which was the escape route of 57 people from East Berlin to the West, November 25, 1940 – September 9, 1995

  • Percy Sledge, R&B and soul singer; his When a Man Loves a Woman was an international hit, reaching #1 in the U. S., and was the first gold record released by Atlantic Records; in 2005, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1941

  • Robert Neale BOB Lind, folk music singer/songwriter in the 1960s, who had a hit single in 1966 with Elusive Butterfly, 1942

  • Benjamin Jeremy BEN Stein, lawyer, economist, law professor, actor, comedian, voice actor, and former White House speechwriter, known for his TV show, Win Ben Stein's Money, 1944

  • John Bernard Larroquette, film and television actor, who played a Klingon in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; known for his role as Assistant DA Reinhold Daniel Fielding, Dan Fielding, on Night Court, a role for which he won Emmy Awards in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988; he starred as John Hemmingway on The John Larroquette Show, 1947

  • Russell Earl O'Dey, aka BUCKY Dent, former MLB shortstop and manager, the World Series MVP in 1978, 1951

  • Bill Morrissey, folk singer/songwriter, 1951

  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr., lawyer, journalist, socialite, and publisher, the president John F. Kennedy, November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999

  • Stephen Scott, aka Dougray Scott, television and film actor, who played the role of Tom Jericho in Enigma, 1965

  • Jillian Noel JILL Hennessy, actress, known for her television roles on Law & Order and Crossing Jordan, 1968

  • Jacqueline Hennessy, journalist, television host, and occasional actress, 1968

  • Christina Applegate, actress, known for playing Kelly Bundy on Married... with Children; she has since appeared in several films, and recently starred on Broadway in a revival of Sweet Charity, 1971

  • Thea Gilmore , singer-songwriter, 1979

  • Brooke Haven, stripper and actress, 1979

  • Amber Hagerman, kidnapping and murder victim; the Dallas Amber Plan, later the national Amber Alert programme, was started in July, 1997, to help safely recover missing children that police believe have been abducted, November 25, 1986 – January 17, 1996


R.I.P.:

  • Johann Georg Pisendel, Baroque musician, violinist, and composer who led the Court Orchestra in Dresden for many years , December 26, 1687 - November 25, 1755

  • Theobald Boehm, virtuoso flautist, Court Musician, composer for the flute, and inventor, who perfected the modern flute and its improved fingering system, April 9, 1794 - November 25, 1881

  • Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, chemist, September 27, 1818 – November 25, 1884

  • Gaston Chevrolet, champion racecar driver and automobile manufacturer, October 26, 1892 – November 25, 1920

  • Kenesaw Mountain Landis, federal judge and the first commissioner of Major League Baseball, November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944

  • Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, author, awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Literature, January 20, 1873 – November 25, 1950

  • Dame Julia MYRA Hess DBE, pianist, February 25, 1890 – November 25, 1965

  • Upton Beall Sinclair, author, who wrote over 90 books in many genres, often advocating socialist views; he gained particular fame for his novel, The Jungle, which dealt with conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906; he ran for governor of California in 1934 - Robert A. Heinlein was deeply involved in Sinclair's campaign - losing to Frank F. Merriam, after which he returned to writing, September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968

  • Kimitake Hiraoka, aka Yukio Mishima, author and playwright, famous for his nihilistic post-war writing, and for the circumstances of his suicide, January 14, 1925 — November 25, 1970

  • Henri Marie Coanda, inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, and the "father" of the modern jet aircraft; in 1910, he designed, built, and piloted the first thermojet powered aircraft, June 7, 1886 – November 25, 1972

  • Zvi Mosheh (Hirsh) Skikne, aka Laurence Harvey, actor, whose first major role was in Room at the Top in 1959; he also appeared in Butterfield 8, The Alamo, A Walk on the Wild Side, Darling, The Running Man, and the original version of The Manchurian Candidate; he was the father of bounty hunter Domino Harvey, October 1, 1928 – November 25, 1973

  • Maha Thray Sithu U Thant, diplomat, the third Secretary-General of the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971, January 22, 1909 – November 25, 1974

  • Jonathan JACK Albertson, actor, comedian, dancer, singer, and musician, performing on stage, radio, movies, and television; he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1968 for The Subject Was Roses, June 16, 1907 - November 25, 1981

Friday, November 24, 2006

Today CCXVIII

Birthdays:

  • Benedictus de Spinoza, aka Baruch Spinoza, lens crafter and philosopher, considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy and one of the definitive ethicists; his writings reveal considerable mathematical training and facility, November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677

  • Carl Theodorus Pachelbel, aka Charles Theodore Pachelbel, composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque era, the son of Johann Pachelbel, November 24, 1690 – September 15, 1750

  • Franz Xaver Gruber, primary school teacher and church organist; he composed the melody to the carol Silent Night, Holy Night, the lyrics for which were written by Josef Mohr, November 25, 1787 – June 7, 1863

  • 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

  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, post-Impressionist painter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer, who recorded the bohemian lifestyle of Paris at the end of the 19th century; charaterized as an artist whose remarkable powers of observation were matched by a profound sympathy with humanity, November 24, 1864 – September 9, 1901

  • Alfred Ernest AL Christie, motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter, October 23, 1881 – April 14, 1951

  • Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, historian, Labor Zionist leader, and the second and longest serving president of Israel [1952 - 1963], November 24, 1884, Poltava, Ukraine - April 23, 1963

  • Dale Carnegie, writer and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills, the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, November 24, 1888 - November 1, 1955

  • Fredrick Arthur [F. A.] Willius, research cardiologist, and the author of hundreds of essays, books, and textbooks in his field, November 24, 1888 - 1972

  • Irwin Allen, television and film producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre, also known for creating a number of popular television series, June 12, 1916 – November 2, 1991

  • Joseph Michael DUCKY Medwick, MLB left fielder, who played for 17 years, finishing with a lifetime .324 batting average; a 10-time All-Star, he won the NL Triple Crown and the NL MVP award in 1937; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1968, by the Veterans Committee, November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975

  • Kirby Grant Hoon, Jr., aka Kirby Grant, musician and actor; he was a child prodigy violinist, a singer, and dance band leader; a long-time B movie actor, he is remembered today for playing the title role in the television series Sky King, November 24, 1911 - October 30, 1985

  • Garson Kanin, writer and director of plays and films, November 24, 1912 – March 13, 1999

  • Theodore Shaw TEDDY Wilson, jazz pianist, November 24, 1912 - July 31, 1986

  • Geraldine Fitzgerald, actress, a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame, November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005

  • Forrest J Ackerman, science fiction fan, collector of science fiction-related memorabilia, editor-writer of the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland, author, actor, producer, and literary agent, 1916

  • Howard Green Duff, radio and stage performer, film and TV actor, November 24, 1913 – July 8, 1990

  • William Frank Buckley, Jr., author, conservative journalist, and commentator, who founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, and hosted the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999; he is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, whose work appears in more than 300 newspapers, and has also authored many books, both fiction and non-fiction, including books on writing, speaking, history, political thought and sailing, 1925

  • Simon van der Meer, accelerator physicist, who invented the concept of stochastic cooling in colliders, making possible the discovery of the W particle and the Z particle; as a result, he and Carlo Rubbia shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics, 1925

  • Tsung-Dao Lee , physicist, well known for creating the Lee Model, the field of relativistic heavy ion physics, and that of nontopological solitons and soliton stars in quantum field theory, as well as the solution for the theta-tau puzzle in particle physics; he and C. N. Yang shared the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics, 1926

  • Robert Bartmess BOB Friend, former MLB right-handed starting pitcher from 1951 to 1966; he was a three-time All-Star, 1956, 1958, and 1960, tied for 1st in the league in wins in 1958, with 22, and led the league in ERA in 1955, at 2.83; he ended his career with a 197-230 record and a 3.58 ERA, with 1734 career strikeouts in 3611 innings pitched, with 36 shutouts in 163 complete games; in 602 career games, he gave up 1438 earned runs and hit 46 batters, 1930

  • Alfred Garyevich Schnittke, composer, November 24, 1934 – August 3, 1998

  • Randolph Peter PETE Best, the original drummer for The Beatles; he was first invited to join the band in 1959, later rejoining for their 1960–1961 residency in Hamburg; he stayed until shortly after their first audition for EMI in 1962, but was fired on August 16th of that year, replaced by Ringo Starr, 1941

  • Donald DUCK Dunn, bass guitarist, record producer, and songwriter, the bassist for Booker T. & the MG's, 1941

  • William BILLY Connolly, CBE, comedian, musician, and actor, 1942

  • William DWIGHT Schultz, stage, television, known for his roles as "Mad" Murdock on The A-Team, and Reginald Barclay on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and the film Star Trek: First Contact, 1947

  • Stephen Wayne STEVE Yeager, former MLB catcher, who played for 15 seasons, 1948

  • Clement CLEM Burke, percussionist, 1955

  • Denise Michelle Crosby, actress, known for her portrayal of Tasha Yar on the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, on which she later guest starred as Romulan Commander Sela; her father was Dennis Crosby, and her grandfather was Bing Crosby, 1957

  • Alain Chabat, actor and director, 1958

  • Amanda Wyss, actress, 1960

  • Edgar Meyer, bassist, whose styles include bluegrass, newgrass, jazz, and classical; he has worked as a session musician in Nashville, as part of various chamber groups, and as a composer and arranger; on his self-titled 2006 release, he performs accompanied only by himself on a wide variety of instruments, including his usual piano and double bass, and guitar, banjo, violin, mandolin, and dobro, 1960

  • Calvin John CAL Eldred, former MLB pitcher, who played for 14 seasons, retiring after the 2005 season, 1967

  • Colin Lewes Hanks, actor, who appeared on Roswell and Band of Brothers, 1977

  • Katherine Marie Heigl, actress, known for her roles on Roswell and Grey's Anatomy, 1978


R.I.P.:

  • Manuel Cardoso, composer and organist, baptized December 11, 1566 – November 24, 1650

  • Johann Adam Reincken, aka Jan Adams Reinken, organist, April 27, 1623 - November 24, 1722

  • Thayendanegea, aka Joseph Brant, Mohawk leader and British military officer during the American Revolutionary War, c. 1742 – November 24, 1807

  • Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, inventor of the Maxim Gun, the first portable, fully automatic machine gun, and the mousetrap, February 4, 1840 - November 24, 1916

  • Doris "Dorie" Miller, cook in the United States Navy, and a hero during the attack on Pearl Harbor; he was the first black man to be awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy's second highest honor, October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943

  • Guido Cantelli, conductor, April 27, 1920 – November 24, 1956

  • Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, aka Diego Rivera, painter and muralist, the husband of Frida Kahlo, December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957

  • Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood CH, lawyer, politician, and diplomat, one of the architects of the League of Nations, and a defender of it, awarded the 1937 Nobel Peace Prize, September 14, 1864 – November 24, 1958

  • Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy, October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963

  • George Ranft, aka George Raft, film actor, known for his portrayals of gangsters in crime dramas in the 1930's and 1940's, September 26, 1895 – November 24, 1980

  • Joseph Vernon BIG JOE Turner, Jr., blues singer, May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985

  • Farrokh Bulsara, aka Freddie Mercury, rock musician and songwriter, best known as the frontman, pianist, and vocalist for Queen, and for his powerful vocal abilities and charisma as a live performer, September 5, 1946 – November 24, 1991

  • Paul Charles Caravello, aka Eric Carr, musician, the drummer for KISS from 1980 until his death, July 12, 1950 - November 24, 1991

  • Warren Edward Spahn, MLB left-handed pitcher, who played for 21 seasons; he won 20 games in 13 different seasons, and compiled a 23-7 record at age 42; he threw two no-hitters, won 3 ERA titles, appeared in 14 All-Star games, and holds the National League record for career home runs by a pitcher with 35; he led the National League in wins eight times; he won the 1957 Cy Young Award; he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, his first year of eligibility, April 23, 1921 – November 24, 2003

  • Arthur Hailey, novelist, author of such books as In High Places, Hotel, Airport, and Wheels, April 5, 1920 – November 24, 2004

  • Noriyuki PAT Morita, actor, best known for the roles of Arnold on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies, June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Today CCXVII

Birthdays:

  • Prospero Alpini, physician and botanist, who seems to have deduced the doctrine of the sexual difference of plants, November 23, 1553 - February 6, 1617

  • John Wallis, mathematician, who is given partial credit for the development of modern calculus; between 1643 and 1689, he served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal court; he is credited with introducing the symbol for infinity, November 23, 1616 - October 28, 1703

  • Isaac Todhunter, mathematician, who wrote treatises on Differential Calculus, Analytical Statics, Integral Calculus, Algebra, and Plane Coordinate Geometry, among other subjects, November 23, 1820 – March 1, 1884

  • Johannes Diderik van der Waals, awarded the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics, for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids, November 23, 1837 – March 8, 1923

  • Karl Hjalmar Branting, statesman; the first Prime Minister of Sweden elected through universal suffrage, he served for three separate periods - 1920, 1922-1923, and 1924 to 1925; he shared the 1921 Nobel Peace Prize with Christian Lous Lange, November 23, 1860 – February 24, 1925

  • Valdemar Poulsen, engineer, who developed a magnetic wire recorder in 1899, November 23, 1869 – July 23, 1942

  • Manuel de Falla y Matheu, composer of classical music, November 23, 1876 – November 14, 1946

  • William Pratt, aka Boris Karloff, actor, known for his roles in horror films, especially that of the Monster in 1931's Frankenstein, November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969)

  • Adolph Arthur HARPO Marx, actor and comedian, one of the Marx Brothers; in 1955, he made an appearance on I Love Lucy, in which he and Lucille Ball re-enacted the famous mirror scene from the movie Duck Soup, November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964

  • Romain de Tirtoff, aka Erté, artist and designer, November 23, 1892 – April 21, 1990

  • Victor Jory, actor, remembered for his role as Jonas Wilkerson in Gone with the Wind, and as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow in the 1942 serial The Shadow, November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982

  • Lars Leksell, physician and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, the inventor of radiosurgery, November 23, 1907 - 1986

  • Nelson Slade Bond, writer of science fiction and fantasy, and sports and crime fiction; his fiction is mainly short stories, most of which appeared in pulp magazines in the 1930's and 1940's, November 23, 1908 - November 4, 2006

  • Michael Gough, character actor, known for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in four Batman; he made his film debut in 1947, and has since appeared extensively on British television; he has guest-starred on Doctor Who, as the villain in the serial The Celestial Toymaker, and in Arc of Infinity as Councillor Hedin; he was once married to Anneke Wills, aka the Doctor's companion Polly, 1917

  • Ferdinando FRED Buscaglione, singer and actor, November 23, 1921 - February 3, 1960

  • Robert Lee [R. L.] Burnside, blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, November 21 or November 23, 1926 - September 1, 2005

  • Johnny Mandel, composer and arranger of popular songs, film music, and jazz; among the musicians with whom he has worked are Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, and Shirley Horn, 1925

  • Gloria Alleyne, aka Gloria Lynne, rhythm and blues singer, 1931

  • Krzysztof Penderecki, composer and conductor of classical music, 1933

  • Robert Towne, actor, screenwriter, and director, the author of many film scripts, including Chinatown, for which he received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, its sequel, The Two Jakes, and Shampoo, 1934

  • Vladislav Nikolayevich Volkov, cosmonaut, who flew on the Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 11 missions, November 23, 1935 – June 30, 1971

  • Esko Nikkari, actor, 1938

  • Betty Everett, R&B singer and pianist, whose biggest hit single was The Shoop Shoop Song, November 23, 1939 - August 19, 2001

  • Francesco Sparanero, aka Franco Nero, actor, 1941

  • Andrew Goodman, civil rights worker, murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan, November 23, 1943 – June 21, 1964

  • Steve Landesberg, actor, comedian, and voice actor, known for the role of Arthur P. Dietrich on Barney Miller, 1945

  • Bruce Randall Hornsby, singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter, 1954

  • Glenn Edward Brummer, former MLB catcher, from 1981 to 1985, 1954

  • Steven Karl Zoltán Brust, fantasy and science fiction author, 1955

  • Ludovico Einaudi, composer and pianist, 1955

  • Dominique Dunne, actress, best known for her role as the oldest daughter, Dana, in 1982's Poltergeist; she was murdered - I mean, manslaughtered - by an abusive boyfriend - November 23, 1959 – November 4, 1982

  • David Alexander Britz Ph.D., scientist and engineer, who is best known for his contributions to the field of materials science and nanotechnology, 1980

  • Jonathan Robert Papelbon, MLB pitcher for the Boston Red Sox; he was the Red Sox closer during most of 2006, but is expected to be in the starting rotation in 2007, 1980


R.I.P.:

  • Thomas Tallis, composer and church musician, c. 1505 – November 23, 1585

  • Walter Reed, M.D., American Army surgeon who led the team which confirmed the theory that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than direct contact; on May 1, 1909, Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, D.C., named in his honor, was opened, September 13, 1851 - November 23, 1902

  • Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, physicist, who pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, November 30, 1858 – November 23, 1937

  • Lewis Robert HACK Wilson, MLB centre fielder from 1923 to 1934, known for his major league record-setting 191-RBI season in 1930; he was an NL All-Star in 1933, 1934, and 1935; he led the NL in home runs in 1926, 1927, 1928, and 1930, when he hit 56, and in RBI's in 1929 and 1930 (191); he finished his 12-year career with a lifetime batting average of .307, with 244 home runs, and 1,063 RBI, in 1,348 games; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948

  • Hayakawa Kintaro, aka Sessue Hayakawa, actor in Japanese and American films, starring in over 80 movies and achieving stardom on three continents, producer, author, martial artist, and ordained Zen monk; he portrayed Colonel Saito in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai in 1957, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, June 10, 1889 - November 23, 1973

  • Cornelius Ryan, journalist and author, best known for his writings on popular military history, especially of World War II; his best-known books are 1959's The Longest Day, and 1974's A Bridge Too Far, June 5, 1920 – November 23, 1974

  • Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson, aka Merle Oberon, film actress, February 19, 1911 – November 23, 1979

  • Judee Sill, singer and songwriter, the first artist signed to the Asylum record label, October 7, 1944 - November 23, 1979

  • Roald Dahl, novelist and short story author, known as a writer for both children and adults; among his most popular books are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, September 13, 1916 – November 23, 1990

  • Nikolaus Karl Günther Nakszynski, aka Klaus Kinski, actor, October 18, 1926 – November 23, 1991

  • Roy Claxton Acuff, country musician, became a regular on the Grand Ole Opry in 1938, September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992

  • Sidney Thomas TOMMY Boyce, songwriter, famous as part of Boyce and Hart songwriting team, September 29, 1939 - November 23, 1994

  • Louis Malle, film director, October 30, 1932 – November 23, 1995

  • Autry DeWalt Mixon, Jr., aka Junior Walker, saxophone player and singer, June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995

  • Ocie Lee [O.C.] Smith, musician; after a career as a jazz vocalist, he recorded a cover of the Bobby Russell song Little Green Apples, which reached number 2 on the pop charts, and won him a 1969 Grammy Award for Best Song; in 1985, he became Dr O.C. Smith, pastor of the City of Angels Science of Mind Centre in Los Angeles, and continued to preach until his death, June 21, 1932 – November 23, 2001

  • Constance Halverstadt, aka Constance Cummings, CBE, screen and stage actress, who began as a stage actress, landing her first Broadway show by the age of eighteen; between 1931 and 1934, she appeared in 21 films, most notably the Harold Lloyd picture Movie Crazy, and Frank Capra's American Madness; in 1979, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress for her performance in the role of Emily Stilson in the play Wings, May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005

  • Philippe Noiret, actor, October 1, 1930 - November 23, 2006

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Today CCXVI

Birthdays:

  • Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, organist, improvisor, and master of counterpoint, the eldest son, of Johann Sebastian Bach, November 22, 1710 – July 1, 1784

  • Thomas Cook, travel agent, November 22, 1808 – July 18, 1892

  • Mary Anne Evans, aka George Eliot, novelist, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era; her novels were usually set in provincial England; among other works, she wrote Silas Marner and Middlemarch, November 22, 1819 – December 22, 1880

  • Paul-Henri-Benjamin Baluet d'Estournelles, baron de Constant de Rébecque, diplomat and politician, and advocate of international arbitration, who shared the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize with Auguste Marie François Beernaert, November 22, 1852 – May 15, 1924

  • André Paul Guillaume Gide, author, awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature, November 22, 1869 – February 19, 1951

  • Harley J. Earl, automotive stylist and engineer, and industrial designer, famous for his work at General Motors from 1927 until 1959, November 22, 1893 – April 10, 1969

  • Paul Oswald Ahnert, astronomer, who became famous in Germany for publishing the Kalender für Sternenfreunde, an annual calendar of astronomical events, from 1948 until 1988, November 22, 1897 – February 27, 1989

  • Hoagland Howard "HOAGY Carmichael, composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader, known for writing Stardust, which may be the most-recorded American song ever written, November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981

  • Wiley Hardeman Post, pilot, the first to fly solo around the world, November 22, 1898 – August 15, 1935

  • Joaquín Rodrigo, composer and virtuoso pianist, November 22, 1901 – July 6, 1999

  • Louis Eugène Félix Néel, physicist, who shared the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physics with astrophysicist Hannes Alfvén, for his pioneering studies of the magnetic properties of solids, November 22, 1904 – November 17, 2000

  • Lord Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH, composer, conductor, and pianist, November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976

  • Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley, OM, FRS, physiologist and biophysicist, who shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with Alan Lloyd Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials, the electrical impulses that enable the activity of an organism to be coordinated by a central nervous system; they shared the prize that year with John Carew Eccles, 1917

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

  • Dika Newlin Ph.D., pianist, professor, composer, and punk rock singer, one of the last living students of Arnold Schoenberg, November 22, 1923 — July 22, 2006

  • Arthur Hiller, film director, known for such films as The Americanization of Emily, The Out-of-Towners, Love Story, Plaza Suite, Man of La Mancha, W. C. Fields and Me, and The In-Laws, 1923

  • Gunther Schuller, horn player, conductor, and composer; he was president of the New England Conservatory, where he created their jazz program; he has won many awards, including the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for his composition Of Reminiscences and Reflections and the William Schuman Award in 1988, given by Columbia University for lifetime achievement in American music composition; he has been awarded ten honorary degrees; in 1993, Downbeat Magazine honoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to jazz, 1925

  • Geraldine Sue Page, Academy Award-winning actress, November 22, 1924 - June 13, 1987

  • Selva Lewis LEW Burdette, Jr., former MLB right-handed starting pitcher; he was the Most Valuable Player of the 1957 World Series; he pitched a 1–0 no-hitter on August 18, 1960, in which he scored the only run of the game; he was an outstanding control pitcher, with a career average of 1.84 walks per nine innings pitched; in an 18-year career, he posted a 203-144 record, with 1074 strikeouts and a 3.66 ERA in 3067.1 innings, compiling 158 complete games and 33 shutouts; he was an All-Star in 1957 and 1959, 1926

  • Robert Francis Vaughn, stage, film, and television actor, known as Napoleon Solo on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; he currently plays Albert Stroller on Hustle, 1932

  • James Burke, science historian, author, and television producer, known for his documentary TV series Connections, 1936

  • Terrence Vance TERRY Gilliam, filmmaker and animator, and member of Monty Python, who became a motion picture writer and director, directing such films as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Jabberwocky, Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, and Twelve Monkeys, 1940

  • Thomas TOM Conti, actor, 1941

  • Billie Jean Moffitt King, retired tennis player, 1943

  • Aston Francis "Family Man" Barrett, bass player, one of the Barrett brothers who played with Bob Marley and The Wailers, 1946

  • Lyman Wesley Bostock, Jr., MLB outfielder, who played for four seasons, 1975 to 1978; he it for the cycle on July 24; he was a .311 hitter, with 23 home runs and 250 RBI's in 526 games, 1976, November 22, 1950 - September 23, 1978

  • Martina Michéle TINA Weymouth, bassist, a founding member of Talking Heads, and of Tom Tom Club, a Talking Heads side-project with the Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz, 1950

  • Kent Nagano, conductor, the Music Director of Opera de Lyon from 1988 to 1998; Principal Conductor of Hallé Orchestra from 1992 to 2000, and of Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2000 to 2006; current Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; General Music Director (designate) of the Bavarian State Opera, 1951

  • Jamie Lee Curtis, film actress, and author of books for children' the daughter of Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis; I first saw her as Hannah Miller on the sitcom Anything But Love with Richard Lewis, 1958

  • Arthur LEE Guetterman, former MLB left-handed relief pitcher from 1984 to 1996, 1958

  • Bruce Martyn Payne, actor and producer, 1960

  • Leos Carax, film director, critic, and writer, 1960

  • Mariel Hadley Hemingway, 6'1" actress, whose first role was with her sister Margaux in the 1976 film Lipstick, followed by the part of Tracy in Woody Allen's Manhattan - only seventeen at the time, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; in 1983, she starred as Dorothy Stratten in Star 80; she is the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway and the sister of the late Margaux Hemingway, 1961

  • Randal L. Schwartz, author, system administrator, and programming consultant, 1961

  • Richard Stanley, film director and screenwriter, 1966

  • Scarlett Johansson, actress, 1984

  • David Pasqualini, pianist, 1986


R.I.P.:

  • Sir Martin Frobisher, seaman and explorer, who made three voyages to the New World to look for the Northwest Passage, all of which landed in northeastern Canada, around today's Resolution Island and Frobisher Bay, c. 1535 – November 22, 1594

  • Bernardo Pasquini, composer of opera and church music, December 7, 1637 - November 22, 1710

  • Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, pirate, c. 1680 – November 22, 1718

  • Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan, composer, May 13, 1842 – November 22, 1900

  • Jack London, author, who wrote The Call of the Wild, and over fifty other books, January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916

  • Lorenz LARRY Hart, lyricist half of the famed Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart, May 2, 1895 - November 22, 1943

  • Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, OM, astrophysicist; the Eddington Limit is named after him; in 1919, he wrote an article, Report on the Relativity Theory of Gravitation, which announced Einstein's theory of general relativity to the English-speaking world, December 28, 1882 – November 22, 1944

  • Samuel Horwitz, aka Shemp Howard, comic actor, part of the Three Stooges comedy team; he was the older brother of Moe Howard, and third stooge in the early years of the act; he rejoined the trio again in 1946, after his younger brother Curly Howard suffered a stroke, March 4, 1895 – November 22, 1955

  • Theodore Kosloff, ballet dancer, choreographer, and film and stage actor, January 22, 1882 - November 22, 1956

  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy, former president of the United States, awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal during WWII, assassinated in Dallas, May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963

  • Clive Staples [C. S.] Lewis, author and scholar, known for his work on medieval literature, Christian apologetics, literary criticism, and fiction; he is known today for his children’s series The Chronicles of Narnia, November 29, 1898 – November 22, 1963

  • Aldous Leonard Huxley, writer, known for his novels and wide-ranging output of essays; he also published short stories, poetry, travel writing, and film stories and scripts; among other works, he wrote Brave New World, July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963

  • Mary Jane MAE West, vaudeville, stage, and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol, August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980

  • Sir Hans Adolf Krebs, medical doctor and biochemist, best known for his development of the citric acid cycle; awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for its discovery, August 25, 1900 – November 22, 1981

  • Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers, actor, singer, dancer, and musician, May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986

  • Clarence Charles [C. C.] Beck, cartoonist, who drew Captain Marvel, and other Fawcett Publications series, including Spy Smasher and Ibis the Invincible, June 8, 1910 - November 22, 1989

  • Sterling Price Holloway, Jr., voice actor, who worked for Walt Disney Studios, and became the voice of Winnie the Pooh; he also voiced the original Cheerios Honey-Nut Bee; he also had a long career as a character actor in films, and on TV, where he had a recurring role as an eccentric inventor in Adventures of Superman, and a recurring role on The Life of Riley, January 4, 1905 - November 22, 1992

  • Anthony Burgess, novelist, critic, composer, librettist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, essayist, travel writer, broadcaster, translator, and educationalist; his fiction includes The Long Day Wanes, Nothing Like the Sun, A Clockwork Orange, and Earthly Powers, February 25, 1917 – November 22, 1993

  • Mark Lenard, actor, best known for his role as Spock's father Sarek in Star Trek series and movies, October 15, 1924 – November 22, 1996

  • Michael Kelland John Hutchence, lead singer for INXS, January 22, 1960 – November 22, 1997

  • Christian Marquand, director, actor, and screenwriter, working in French cinema, March 15, 1927 - November 22, 2000