Today CCXII

Birthdays:

• Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, Freiherr von Weber, composer, whose works, especially his operas, greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in German music; he was also an innovative composer for the clarinet, for which he wrote many works, November 18, 1786 – June 5, 1826


• Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, artist and chemist, known for his invention of the Daguerreotype process of photography, November 18, 1787 – July 10, 1851


• Ezechia Marco CESARE Lombroso, professor of medical law and psychiatry at Turin, founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology, who popularized the notion of a born criminal; he rejected the established Classical School, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature; his theory - Anthropological criminology - was that criminality was inherited, and that the born criminal could be identified by physical defects, November 6, 1835 - Turin, October 19, 1909


• August Adolf Eduard Eberhard Kundt, physicist, who graduated from Berlin University in 1864 with a thesis on the depolarization of light, November 18, 1839 – May 21, 1894


• the Right Honourable Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett, OM, CH, FRS, experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winner of the 1948 Nobel Prize for Physics, for his investigation of cosmic rays, President of the Royal Society from 1965 to 1970, November 18, 1897 – July 13, 1974


• Joris Ivens, documentary filmmaker, November 18, 1898 - June 28, 1989


• Jenö Blau, aka Eugene Ormandy, conductor and violinist, Music Director of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra from 1931 to 1936, and of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1936 to 1980, November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985


• George Horace Gallup, statistician, invented the Gallup poll, November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984


• George Wald, scientist, known for his work with pigments in the retina, shared the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Haldan Keffer Hartline and Ragnar Granit, November 18, 1906 – April 12, 1997


• Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz, aka Compay Segundo, musician and songwriter, and the inventor of the armónico, a seven-stringed guitar-like instrument; in his early years he played the guitar, the clarinet, the bongos, and the congas; international fame came in 1997 with the release of the Buena Vista Social Club album; he appeared in the film of the same name; his most famous composition is Chan Chan, November 18, 1907 – July 13, 2003


• Imogene Fernandez de Coca, aka Imogene Coca, comic actress; in the early days of live television, she played opposite Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows, and her own series, The Imogene Coca Show, November 18, 1908 – June 2, 2001


• John Herndon JOHNNY Mercer, singer and songwriter, winner of five Acadaemy Awards, November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976


• Kenneth William Burkhardt, aka KEN Burkhart, MLB right-handed pitcher and umpire, who played from 1945 through 1949, and served as a National League umpire from 1957 to 1973, November 18, 1915 - December 29, 2004


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


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


• Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., Rear Admiral, USN, Ret., the first U.S. astronaut in space, November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998


• Gene William Mauch, former MLB player, in parts of nine seasons from 1944 to 1957, and manager from 1960 to 1982, and 1985 to 1987, November 18, 1925 – August 8, 2005


• Hank Ballard, rhythm and blues singer, the lead vocalist for Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, November 18, 1927 – March 2, 2003


• Otar Gordeli, composer, 1928


• Don Cherry, jazz trumpeter, known for his long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman, November 18, 1936 – October 19, 1995


• Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC, writer, poet, novelist, literary critic, feminist and political activist, 1939


• Brenda Vaccaro, stage, motion picture, and television actress, 1939


• David Hemmings, movie actor and director, who started his career as a boy soprano; his most famous role was the photographer in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blowup; he also appeared in Barbarella, November 18, 1941 – December 3, 2003


• Linda Evanstad, aka Linda Evans, actress, 1942


• Susan Michaelin Sullivan, actress, 1942


• Alan Dean Foster, writer of science fiction and fantasy novels, and movie novelizations, 1946


• Francis JAMESON Parker, Jr., actor, best known as the co-star of the TV series Simon & Simon, 1947


• Andrea Marcovicci, actress and singer, 1948


• Eric Pierpoint, actor, known for his role as George Francisco on Alien Nation; he has appeared on all of the Star Trek spin-offs, 1950


• Delroy Lindo, character actor; among other roles, he played Satchel Paige in Soul of the Game, 1952


• Alan Moore, writer, most famous for his work in comics, including the graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell, 1953


• Elizabeth Perkins, movie, television, and theatre actress, 1960


• Kirk Lee Hammett, lead guitarist for Metallica, 1962


• Jamie Moyer, MLB starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, 1962


• Alphonse DANTE Bichette, former MLB outfielder, who played for 14 seasons; he was an All-Star in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1998, and won a Silver Slugger Award in 1995, 1963


• Gary Antonian Sheffield, MLB right fielder, recently traded from the New York Yankees to the Detroit Tigers, 1968


• Peta Gia Wilson, actress and model, 1970


• Chloë Stevens Sevigny, actress, 1974


• David Américo Ortiz Arias, nicknamed Big Papi, MLB designated hitter, who has played for the Boston Red Sox since 2003; he was the 2004 ALCS MVP; he led the AL in Home Runs in 2006; he led the AL in RBI's in 2005 and 2006, 1975


• Christina Vidal, film and television actress, currently is appearing on the sitcom Girlfriends, 1981


• Jon Lech Johansen, software engineer, known for his work on reverse engineering data formats, and famous for his involvement in the release of the DeCSS software, which decodes the content-scrambling system used for DVD licensing enforcement, 1983

R.I.P.:

• Walther Hermann Nernst, chemist, helped establish the field of physical chemistry, contributing to electrochemistry, thermodynamics, solid state chemistry, and photochemistry, recipient of the 1920 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in thermochemistry, June 25, 1864 – November 18, 1941


• Niels Henrik David Bohr, physicist who made fundamental contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, awarded the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics, October 7, 1885 – November 18, 1962


• Ted Heath, bandleader and trombonist, March 30, 1902 – November 18, 1969


• Danny Ray Whitten, musician and songwriter, known for his work with Neil Young and Crazy Horse, and for the song I Don't Want To Talk About It, a hit for Rita Coolidge and Rod Stewart, May 8, 1943 - November 18, 1972


• Emmanuel Radnitzky, aka Man Ray, artist, best described as a modernist, a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements; known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, he produced major works in a variety of media, but considered himself a painter, August 27, 1890–November 18, 1976


• Frederick Landis FREDDIE Fitzsimmons, MLB right-handed pitcher, manager, and coach, who played from 1925 to 1943; a master of the knuckle curve, he won 217 games; he was manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1943 to 1945, July 28, 1901 - November 18, 1979


• Cabell CAB Calloway III, jazz singer and bandleader, a masterful scat singer, who led one of the most popular American big bands from the start of the 1930's through the late 1940's, December 25, 1907–November 18, 1994


• James Coburn, movie actor, co-starred with in The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape; in 1966, he starred in Our Man Flint and its sequel; he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Affliction, August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002


• Michael Kamen, composer, especially of film scores, orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician [oboe and keyboards], April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003


• Seymour Kaufman CY Coleman, composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist, a child prodigy who gave piano recitals at Steinway Hall, Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall between the ages of six and nine, June 14, 1929 - November 18, 2004