Today CCXXXII - John Lennon Murdered, 1980

Birthdays:

• Elias ELI Whitney, inventor and manufacturer, credited with the first patent on a cotton gin, a mechanical device which removes the seeds from cotton, in 1793, December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825


• Bjørnstjerne Martinus Bjørnson, writer, awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature, December 8, 1832 – April 26, 1910


• William Crapo BILLY Durant, pioneer of the U.S. automobile industry, the founder of General Motors, who created the system of multi-brand holding companies with different lines of cars, December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947


• Jean Sibelius, composer of classical music, December 8, 1865 – September 20, 1957


• Jacques Solomon Hadamard, mathematician, known for his proof of the prime number theorem in 1896, December 8, 1865 – October 17, 1963


• 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


• Bohuslav Martinu, composer, December 8, 1890 — August 28, 1959


• Elzie Crisler [E. C.] Segar, drummer and cartoonist, the creator of Popeye, a character who first appeared in his newspaper comic strip Thimble Theater in 1929, December 8, 1894 – October 13, 1938


• Leo Jacoby, aka Lee J. Cobb, actor, December 8, 1911 – February 11, 1976


• Ernest Lehman, screenwriter, who received 6 Academy Award nominations; in 2001, he received an honorary Oscar for his work, December 8, 1915 - July 2, 2005


• Richard O. Fleischer, film director, who won an Academy Award as producer of the 1947 documentary Design for Death, co-written by Theodor Geisel; the son and biographer of animator Max Fleischer, he was chairman of Fleischer Studios, which today handles the licensing of Betty Boop and Koko the Clown, December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006


• Marcel Tisserand, aka Gérard Souzay, baritone singer and educator, December 8, 1918 – August 17, 2004


• Rudolph Pariser Ph.D., physical chemist and polymer chemist, known for his work with Robert G. Parr on the method of molecular orbital computation, 1923


• Sammy Davis, Sr., dancer, musician, and entertainer, December 12, 1900 - May 21, 1988


• James Oscar JIMMY Smith, jazz musician, influenced by gospel and blues, whose Hammond B-3 electric organ performances helped to popularize this instrument, December 8, 1925 – February 8, 2005


• Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov, cosmonaut, who flew three space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 4, Soyuz 8, and Soyuz 10., 1927


• Maximilian Schell, actor, writer, producer, and director, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1961 for the role of the defense attorney in Judgment at Nuremberg, 1930


• Clerow FLIP Wilson, comedian and actor, December 8, 1933 – November 25, 1998


• John Arthur DAVID Carradine, actor, known for such roles as Kwai Chang Caine on Kung Fu and its sequel, Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory, and Bill in Kill Bill Vol. I and Vol. II, 1936


• James Gordon MacArthur, actor, known for the role of Dan (Danno) Williams on Hawaii Five-O, 1937


• Sir James Galway, virtuoso flautist, principal flute of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1969 to 1975; after Jean-Pierre Rampal, he is one of the first flautists to establish an international career as a soloist, 1939


• Jerry Butler, Jr., soul singer, 1939


• Garrabrant Ryerson BRANT Alyea, former MLB outfielder, who played from 1965 to 1972, 1940


• Edwin Albert ED Brinkman, former MLB shortstop, who played for fifteen years, winning a Gold Glove Award in 1972; he was an All-Star in 1973; he had a career batting average of .224, 1941


• James Douglas JIM Morrison, singer, songwriter, writer, and poet, lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971


• John Rubinstein, film, Broadway, and television actor, composer of film and theatre music, and theatre and television director, 1946


• Gregory Lenoir GREGG Allman, rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, with his late brother, Duane Allman, and other musicians; he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 with The Allman Brothers Band, 1947


• Thomas Robert Cech Ph.D., chemist; his main research area is that of the process of transcription in the nucleus of cells, studying how the genetic code of DNA is transcribed into RNA; his second area of research is that of the structure and function of telomeres, the natural ends of linear chromosomes; he shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Sidney Altman, 1947


• Richard A. RICK Baker, Hollywood special makeup effects artist, known for his realistic creature effects, 1950


• Timothy John TIM Foli, former MLB shortstop, who played from 1970 to 1985, 1950


• Kimila Ann KIM Basinger, film actress and former model, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1997 for L.A. Confidential, 1953


• Warren Bruce Cuccurullo, rock and pop guitarist, 1956


• Sandy Burnett, record producer, 1964


• Teri Lynn Hatcher, actress and author, known for her roles as Lois Lane on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and as Susan Mayer on Desperate Housewives, 1964


• Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor, singer and songwriter, 1966


• Michael Cole MIKE Mussina, MLB starting pitcher, currently with the New York Yankees; he is a six-time Gold Glove Award winner, and a seven-time nominee for the Cy Young Award, 1968


• Reed Cameron Johnson, MLB outfielder, currently playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, 1976


• Vernon Wells III, MLB centre fielder, currently playing for the Toronto Blue Jays; at the end of the 2006 season, he was awarded his third straight Gold Glove Award for his outfield defense, 1978


• Jeremy Accardo, MLB pitcher, currently playing for the Toronto Blue Jays, 1981

R.I.P.:

• 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


• Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev, mathematician, known for his work in the field of probability, statistics and number theory, May 16, 1821 – December 8, 1894


• Hermann Weyl, mathematician, closely identified with the University of Göttingen tradition of mathematics; he published technical and some general works on space, time, matter, philosophy, logic, symmetry, and the history of mathematics; he was one of the first to conceive of combining general relativity with the laws of electromagnetism, November 9, 1885 – December 8, 1955


• Tristram E. TRIS Speaker, MLB centre fielder; he batted over .380 five times, and holds the record for the most career doubles, with 793; he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, the second year of voting, April 4, 1888 - December 8, 1958


• Gary Thain, rock bassist, best known for his work with Uriah Heep, May 15, 1948 – December 8, 1975


• Golda Mabovitz, aka Golda Meir, politician, one of the founders of the State of Israel, who served as the Minister of Labor, Foreign Minister, and as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel from March 17, 1969 to April 11, 1974; she was the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, years before the epithet was coined for Margaret Thatcher; David Ben-Gurion once described her as "the only man in the Cabinet," May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978


• John Winston Ono Lennon, MBE, Beatle!, October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980


• Martin David Robinson, aka Marty Robbins, country & western singer, songwriter, and guitarist, September 26, 1925, Glendale, Arizona - December 8, 1982


• Louis Bert Lindley, Jr., aka Slim Pickens, cowboy and actor, inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1982, June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983


• Lutha Adler, aka Luther Adler, actor and director; best known for his work in theater, he also worked in film and television, and directed plays on Broadway; his siblings also worked in theater, his sister Stella Adler achieving fame as an actress and drama teacher, May 4, 1903 – December 8, 1984


• Wilbur Dorsey BUCK Clayton, jazz trumpet player, remembered for being a leading member of Count Basie’s orchestra; his principal influence was Louis Armstrong, November 12, 1911 - December 8, 1991


• William Shawn, magazine editor, edited The New Yorker from 1952 until 1987, August 31, 1907 – December 8, 1992


• Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida TOM Jobim, composer, arranger, singer, pianist/guitarist, and one of the primary forces behind the creation of bossa nova, January 25, 1927 – December 8, 1994


• Howard Ellsworth Rollins, Jr., actor, appeared in the movie Ragtime, and as Virgil Tibbs on In the Heat of the Night, October 17, 1950 – December 8, 1996


• Rubén González, pianist; in 1943, he released his first recording, together with Arsenio Rodríguez; he retired in the late 1980's, but started a second career in 1996 when his solo album Introducing ... Rubén González was released; the next year, Ry Cooder produced Buena Vista Social Club, featuring González, Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo, Elíades Ochoa, and other Cuban musicians; Wim Wenders produced a movie under the same name, and González and his colleagues became famous all over the world, May 26, 1919 in Santa Clara, Cuba – December 8, 2003


• Hans Hotter, operatic bass-baritone singer, January 19, 1909 – December 6, 2003


• Georgiy Stepanovich Zhzhonov, actor and writer, March 22, 1915 - December 8, 2005