Today CCXXXIV

Birthdays:

• Johannes Stöffler [or Stöfler], mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, priest, maker of astronomical instruments; the lunar crater Stöfler is named after him, December 10, 1452 – February 16, 1531


• Isaac Beeckman, philosopher and scientist, December 10, 1588 - May 19, 1637


• Josef Škoda, physician, medical professor, and dermatologist, a co-founder of the Modern Medical School of Vienna, December 10, 1805 - June 13, 1881


• 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


• César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck, composer, organist, and music teacher, December 10, 1822 – November 8, 1890


• Monsignor Lorenzo Perosi, composer of sacred music, December 21, 1872 - October 12, 1956


• Nelly Sachs, poet and dramatist, who shared the 1966 Nobel Prize for Literature with Shmuel Yosef Agnon, December 10, 1891, Berlin – May 12, 1970,


• Una Merkel, actress, who entered films in 1920 as Lillian Gish's double in the film Way Down East; she appeared in several films during the silent era but spent most of her time in New York working on Broadway; she returned to Hollywood, and achieved her greatest success with the advent of "talkies," December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986


• Olivier Messiaen, composer, organist, and ornithologist, December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992


• Hermes Pangiotopolous, aka Hermes Pan, dancer and choreographer, known as Fred Astaire's choreographic collaborator on the 1930's movie musicals starring Astaire and Ginger Rogers, December 10, 1909 – September 19, 1990


• Chester Robert CHET Huntley, television newscaster; in 1956, NBC news executives decided to replace news anchor John Cameron Swayze, and the leading contenders were Chet Huntley and David Brinkley; the eventual decision was to have both men share the assignment; their on-air chemistry was apparent from the start, and the team replaced Swayze on the network's nightly news program; the Huntley-Brinkley Report began in October, 1956 and was soon a ratings success, lasting until Julty, 1971, December 10, 1911 - March 20, 1975


• Morton Gould, pianist, composer, conductor, and arranger, December 10, 1913 – February 21, 1996


• Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton, aka Dorothy Lamour, singer and motion picture actress, December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996


• Anne Gwynne, film actress and model, known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearance in horror films; she was one of the most popular pin-ups of World War II, December 10, 1918 - March 31, 2003


• Alexander Courage, composer of music, primarily for television and motion pictures, known for writing the theme music to the original Star Trek TV series, 1919


• Dan Blocker, actor, known for his role as Eric 'Hoss' Cartwright on Bonanza, December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972


• Makoto MAKO Iwamatsu, actor and voice actor, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Sand Pebbles, and for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for the musical Pacific Overtures; he played the Wizard Akiro in the two Conan, and Admiral Yamamoto in Pearl Harbor; he was the voice of Iroh on Avatar: The Last Airbender, December 10, 1933 - July 21, 2006


• Howard Martin Temin, geneticist, who shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Renato Dulbecco and David Baltimore for the discovery of reverse transcriptase, December 10, 1934 – February 9, 1994


• Yuri Khatuevich Temirkanov, conductor, 1938


• David Stuart Chadwick, aka Chad Stuart, half of the folk rock duo Chad and Jeremy with Jeremy Clyde, 1941


• Fionnula Flanagan, actress, who has appeared on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Enterprise, 1941


• Tommy Rettig, child actor, computer [database] software engineer, and author, known for starring as Jeff Miller in the first four seasons of the Lassie television series, December 10, 1941 – February 15, 1996


• Steven Renko, Jr., former MLB pitcher; in 15 seasons, he had a 134-146 Win-Loss record, 451 Games, 365 Games Started, 57 Complete Games, 9 Shutouts, 36 Games Finished, 6 Saves, 2,494 Innings Pitched, 2,438 Hits Allowed, 1,233 Runs Allowed, 1,107 Earned Runs Allowed, 248 Home Runs Allowed, 1,010 Walks Allowed, 1,455 Strikeouts, 22 Hit Batsmen, 73 Wild Pitches, 10,704 Batters Faced, 86 Intentional Walks, 4 Balks and a 3.99 ERA, 1944


• Douglas C. Kenney, writer and co-founder of National Lampoon magazine, who edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material, December 10, 1947 – August 27, 1980


• Susan Hallock Dey, actress, known for her roles on The Partridge Family and L.A. Law, 1952


• Michael Clarke Duncan, actor, whose breakout role was in The Green Mile, a role which netted him an Academy Award nomination, 1957


• Kenneth Charles Branagh, actor and film director, 1960


• Melquiades MEL Rojas Medrano, former MLB pitcher from 1990 to 1999, 1966


• Megan Martha MEG White, musician,drummer for The White Stripes, 1974


• Sarah Chang, violinist, 1980


• Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman, actress, R&B and pop singer, songwriter, dancer, and television producer, known for her roles as Olivia Kendall on The Cosby Show, and as Raven Baxter on That's So Raven, 1985


• Rachel Piña Trachtenburg, musician and singer, the drummer and vocalist for the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, along with her parents; she also plays the harmonica and the bass guitar, 1993

R.I.P.:

• Giulio Caccini, composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist, and writer of the very late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, one of the founders of the genre of opera, October 8, 1551 – December 10, 1618


• Edmund Gunter, mathematician, and inventor, 1581 - December 10, 1626


• Tarquinio Merula, composer, organist, and violinist of the early Baroque era; stylistically, he was a member of the Venetian school; he applied newly developed techniques to sacred music, 1594 or 1595 – December 10, 1665


• Thomas Johann Seebeck, physicist, who discovered the thermoelectric effect, in which a junction of dissimilar metals produces an electric current when exposed to a temperature gradient; this is the basis of thermocouples and thermopiles, April 9, 1770 – December 10, 1831


• Alfred Bernhard Nobel, chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer, and the inventor of dynamite; in his last will, he used his enormous fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes; the synthetic element Nobelium was named after him, October 21, 1833 – December 10, 1896


• Luigi Pirandello, dramatist, novelist, and short story writer, awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature, June 28, 1867 – December 10, 1936


• Walter Perry Johnson, MLB right-handed pitcher, the premier power pitcher of his era, believed to have thrown as high as 99 miles per hour from a sidearm angle; in a 21-year career, he had twelve 20-win seasons, including ten in a row; twice he topped thirty wins - 33 in 1912 and 36 in 1913; his record includes 110 shutouts, the most in baseball history; he won the triple crown for pitchers in 1913, 1918, and 1924; he was the AL Most Valuable Player in 1913 and 1924; his 3,508 career strikeout record stood for 56 years, until Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, and Gaylord Perry (in that order) broke it in 1983; his ERA of 1.14 in 1913 is one of the lowest of all; he compiled a career batting average of .235, including a record .433 average in 1925; his career record is 417 wins and 279 losses (.599), in 802 games played, 666 started, with 531 complete games, and a career ERA of 2.17; he was one of the first five electees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, November 6, 1887 - December 10, 1946


• Damon Runyon, newspaperman and writer, October 4, 1884 – December 10, 1946


• Otis Ray Redding, Jr., soul singer, best known for his posthumous hit single, (Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay; wrote many of his own songs, often with Steve Cropper; played at the Monterey Pop Festival; recorded many successful albums and songs; died in a plane crash, September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967


• Edward Davis ED Wood, Jr., motion picture director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978


• Anna McKim , aka Ann Dvorak, film actress, August 2, 1912 - December 10, 1979


• Freeman Fisher GIZZIE Gosden, radio comedian; from 1928 to 1960, he voiced the characters Amos, The Kingfish, Lightning, Brother Crawford, and some dozen other characters on the Amos & Andy show, May 5, 1899 - December 10, 1982


• Harriet Shapiro, aka Susan Cabot, actress, July 9, 1927 - December 10, 1986


• Jascha Heifetz, virtuoso violinist, February 2, 1901 – December 10, 1987


• Armand Hammer, industrialist and art collector, May 21, 1898 – December 10, 1990


• Faron Young, country music singer, mainly in the honky tonk genre, February 25, 1932 -December 10, 1996


• Richard Clare RICK Danko, musician and singer, bass player and vocalist for The Band, December 29, 1942 – December 10, 1999


• Joseph Heller, novelist, May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999


• Emily Bertelson, aka Marie Windsor, actress, sometimes called Queen of the B's because she appeared in so many films noirs and b-movies, such as Cat-Women of the Moon; after her acting career, she became a painter and sculptor, December 11, 1919 - December 10, 2000


• Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III, comedian, actor, and writer; he won an Emmy Award in 1973, and five Grammy Awards, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982; in 1974 he won two American Academy of Humor awards and the Writers Guild of America Award, December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005