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