Today CXCVI

Birthdays:

• Count Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, diplomat and composer, whose most important compositions are the Concerti Armonici, November 2, 1692 – November 9, 1766


• Daniel Boone, pioneer and hunter, whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States, November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820


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


• Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen [or Josephe Jeanne Marie Antoinette von Habsburg-Lorraine], Queen of France, November 2, 1755 – October 16, 1793


• George Boole, mathematician and philosopher; as the inventor of Boolean algebra, the basis of all modern computer arithmetic, Boole is regarded in hindsight as one of the founders of the field of computer science, although computers did not exist in his day, November 2, 1815 – December 8, 1864


• Harlow Shapley, astronomer, the first to realize that the Milky Way Galaxy was much larger than previously believed, November 2, 1885 – October 20, 1972


• Alexander Martin Lippisch, pioneer of aerodynamics, who made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings, delta wings, and the ground effect; his most famous design is the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor, November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976


• Travis Calvin Jackson, MLB shortstop, who played with played with the New York Giants, from 1922 until 1936; he was regarded as one of the premier defensive shortstops in the league, and batted .300 or higher six times in his career; he finished his career with 135 home runs and a .291 batting average; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, November 2, 1903 - July 27, 1987


• James Howard Dunn, film actor, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1945 for A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, November 2, 1905 - September 3, 1967


• Luchino Visconti, Duke of Modrone, theatre and cinema director and writer, best known for films such as The Leopard, November 2, 1906 - March 17, 1976


• Odysseas Elytis, poet, one of the most important representatives of modernism in Greece, awarded the 1979 Nobel Prize in Literature, November 2, 1911 - March 18, 1996


• Raphael Mitchel Robinson Ph.D., mathematician, who worked on mathematical logic, set theory, geometry, number theory, and combinatorics, even employing very early computers to obtain results in number theory; he discovered the Mersenne Primes 521, 607, 1279, 2203, and 2281 , the largest ones known at the time, November 2, 1911 - January 27, 1995


• Burton Stephen BURT Lancaster, film actor, November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994


• John Samuel JOHNNY Vander Meer, MLB pitcher from 1937 through 1951, a four-time All-Star; he is the only pitcher in major league history to pitch two consecutive no-hitters, November 2, 1914 - October 6, 1997


• Therese ANN Rutherford, film, radio, and television actress, 1920


• Shepard Menken, voice actor and character actor, November 2, 1921 – January 2, 1999


• Stephen Ditko, comic book artist and writer, best known as the co-creator of Spider-Man, 1927


• Professor Richard Edward Taylor, CC, FRS, FRSC, Ph.D., M.Sc, B.Sc, physicist, and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, who shared the 1990 Nobel Prize for Physics with Jerome Isaac Friedman and Henry Way Kendall, 1929


• Jack Starrett, actor and director, played Gabby Johnson, a parody of Gabby Hayes, in the film Blazing Saddles, November 2, 1936 – March 27, 1989


• David Blatt, aka Jay Black, singer, the second [the first was Jay Traynor] leader of Jay and the Americans, 1938


• Bruce Cripps, aka Bruce Welch OBE, guitarist, songwriter, producer, and singer, best known as a member of The Shadows, 1941


• Shere Hite, sex educator and feminist, 1942


• Stefania Federkfiewicz, aka Stefanie Powers, stage and film actress and singer, starred with Robert Wagner in the TV series Hart to Hart, 1942


• Keith Noel Emerson, keyboard player and composer, founded Emerson Lake and Palmer in 1970, 1944


• Giuseppe Sinopoli, conductor and composer, who studied composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen; Principal Conductor, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia from 1983 to 1987; Principal Conductor, Philharmonia Orchestra from 1984 to 1994; Chief Conductor, Dresden Staatskapelle from 1992 to 2001, November 2, 1946 - April 20, 2001


• Maxine Nightingale, R&B and soul music singer, best known for her hits in the 1970s; she recently recorded a jazz CD based on her performances at B.B. King's Club, 1952


• Christopher LeRoy CHRIS Burnett, saxophone player, composer, and band leader, 1955


• Carter Beauford, drummer and founding member of the Dave Matthews Band, 1957


• Willie Dean McGee, former MLB outfielder from 1982 to 1999; he was an All-Star in 1983, 1985, and 1987, and 1988, the 1985 NL Most Valuable Player, the NL Batting Champion in 1985 and 1990, a Gold Glove winner in 1983, 1985, and 1986, and a Silver Slugger winner in 1985; in his career, he played 2201 games, batted .295, hit 79 home runs, drove in 856 runs, stole 352 bases, scored 1010 runs scored, and had 2254 hits, in 7649 at bats, ending his career with 3029 total bases, and a .976 fielding percentage; he hit for the cycle on June 23, 1984, 1958


• Kathryn Dawn [k. d.] Lang, OC, singer and songwriter, 1961


• Mireille Delunsch, operatic soprano, 1962


• Craig Michael Saavedra, film producer, director, and writer, and co-owner of production company Starry Night Entertainment, 1963


• Tim Kirkman, writer and director, 1966


• Kurt Elling, jazz vocalist, 1967


• Marc van Roon, jazz pianist, 1967


• Samantha Janus, actress, 1972


• Orlando Luis Cabrera, MLB shortstop, who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; he won a 2001 NL Gold Glove Award, 1974


• Sidney Alton Ponson, MLB pitcher, who is a free agent after being released by the St. Louis Cardinals in August, 2006, 1976


• Wilson Betemit, MLB third baseman, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1981

RIP:

• Johanna JENNY Maria Lind, singer, October 6, 1820 – November 2, 1887


• Rudolph Albert von Kölliker, anatomist and physiologist, July 6, 1817 – November 2, 1905


• George Bernard Shaw, playwright, winner of the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature and the Academy Award in 1938 for Pygmalion, July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950


• Dimitris Mitropoulos, conductor, pianist, and composer, March 1, 1896 – November 2, 1960


• James Grover Thurber, humorist and cartoonist, best known for his contributions of cartoons and short stories to The New Yorker magazine, December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961


• Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije, aka Peter Joseph William Debye Ph.D., physical chemist, awarded the 1936 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966


• "Mississippi" John Smith Hurt, blues singer and guitarist, March 8, 1892 - November 2, 1966


• Pier Paolo Pasolini, poet, intellectual, film director, and writer, March 5, 1922 - November 2, 1975


• Solomon Hersh PAUL Frees, voice actor, voiced Professor Ludwig Von Drake among other characters, June 22, 1920 - November 2, 1986


• Mort Shuman, singer, pianist, and songwriter, November 12, 1936 - November 2, 1991


• 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


• Harold Eugene HAL Roach, Sr., film and television producer, January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992


• Charles Sheffield, mathematician, physicist, and science fiction author; he served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronomical Society, June 25, 1935 – November 2, 2002


• Theo van Gogh, film director, television producer, publicist, and actor, whose great-grandfather was art dealer Theo van Gogh, brother of Vincent van Gogh; working from a script written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, created the 10-minute movie Submission, dealing with the topic of violence against women in Islamic societies; after the movie was released in 2004, both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death threats; an alleged terrorist murdered van Gogh in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, July 23, 1957 – November 2, 2004