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Portrait by Gerlach Flicke, 1545 |
Wendy's founder Dave Thomas was born on July 2, 1932. He dropped out of high school but picked up his GED in 1993. His GED class voted him Most Likely to Succeed. Before he founded Wendy's in 1969, Dave Thomas worked for Kentucky Fried Chicken ending up as a Regional Director.
For more July 2 anniversaries, including The Battle of Marston Moor, the shooting of President James Garfield and the invention of the sport of water skiing check out OnThatDay.
The French writer George Sand (real name Aurora Dupin) was born in Paris on July 1, 1804. She was notorious for wearing trousers, smoking cigars and penning her literary works under a male pseudonym. Dupin's refusal to act like a "real woman" made her popular among the artists and intelligentsia of her time and helped ignite the woman's revolution.
The French writer George Sand (real name Aurora Dupin) was born in Paris on July 1, 1804. She was notorious for wearing trousers, smoking cigars and penning her literary works under a male pseudonym. Dupin's refusal to act like a "real woman" made her popular among the artists and intelligentsia of her time and helped ignite the woman's revolution.
Diana, Princess of Wales was born on July 1, 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was named after Diana Russell, an 18th century ancestor. Russell was born Lady Diana Spencer, was often called Di, and very nearly the married the then Prince of Wales. Diana failed all her O-level school examinations twice, and described herself as being "as thick as a plank." She did win a school award for having the ‘best-kept guinea pig’ and a school cup for ‘helpfulness’.
For more July 1 anniversaries, the closest passing of a comet to The Earth in recorded history, the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg and the marriage of Dwight Eisenhower to Mamie Geneva Doud check out OnThatDay.
American bank robber Willie Sutton was born on June 30, 1901. During his forty-year robbery career Sutton stole an estimated $2 million. He never robbed a bank with a loaded gun because he didn’t want anyone to get hurt, and allegedly never robbed a bank when a woman screamed or a baby cried. He eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escaped three times.
American bank robber Willie Sutton was born on June 30, 1901. During his forty-year robbery career Sutton stole an estimated $2 million. He never robbed a bank with a loaded gun because he didn’t want anyone to get hurt, and allegedly never robbed a bank when a woman screamed or a baby cried. He eventually spent more than half of his adult life in prison and escaped three times.
Michael Gerard Tyson was born on June 30, 1966 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. Tyson had been arrested 38 times by the age of 13. He said he was bullied as a "pudgy kid" who spoke with a lisp, causing him to turn to crime and drugs. He learned boxing at reform school, and by 20 was the heavyweight champion.
American swimmer Michael Phelps was born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland. Phelps was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder when he was nine and was bullied as a kid for his gangly form and big ears. The first swimming stroke Michael Phelps learned as a child was the backstroke, because he was afraid to put his head underwater.
For more June 30 anniversaries, including the largest impact event on Earth in recent history, the birth of the oldest living parrot in the world, and the ope
American right wing historian and political theorist Lothrop Stoddard was born on June 29, 1883. Stoddard's analysis divided world politics and situations into "white," "yellow," "black," "Amerindian," and "brown" peoples and their interactions. He argued that race and heredity were the guiding factors of history and civilization and that the elimination or absorption of the "white" race by "colored" races would result in the destruction of Western civilization.
For more June 29 anniversaries, including the first transpacific flight, from the mainland United States to Hawaii, T. S. Eliot conversion to Anglicanism from Unitarianism and the marriage of Marilyn Monroe to Arthur Miller check out OnThatDay.
Henry Tudor was born June 28, 1491 at Greenwich Palace, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. A charming and loveable boy, Henry was bought up at his mother's home, Eltham Palace in South East London. By the age of 3, Henry was riding a horse from Greenwich to Westminster Palace. His older brother, Arthur was the heir to the throne, but died of tuberculosis aged 15. When his father died Henry succeeded him becoming at 18 Henry VIII of England.
John Wesley was born on June 28, 1703 in Epworth, 23 miles (37 km) NW of Lincoln. His father, Samuel was a staunch High Churchman whose lifework was to minister to the inhabitants of the North Lincolnshire marshlands. His Mother Susannah was also very devout and both his parents were influenced by the Pietist movement. John was brought up in poverty; his father served in one of England's lowest-paying parishes and was rarely out of debt even spending time in debtor's prison.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712 at 40, Grand Rue, Geneva. He was bought up his watchmaker father and an aunt after his mother died nine days after his birth. Jean Jacques left Geneva aged 16 and traveled around France, where he met his benefactress, the Baronnesse de Warens. She furthered his education to such a degree that the boy who had arrived on her doorstep having never been to school developed into a philosopher, a man of letters, and a musician.
For more June 28 anniversaries, including the invention of the saxophone, the marriage of Harry S. Truman and Bess Wallace, and the signing of The Treaty Of Versailles, check out OnThatDay.
Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama to Kate Adams and newspaper editor and Confederate Army Captain, Arthur H. Keller. Helen lost her sight and hearing at 19 months, probably from scarlet fever or meningitis. As a child, she developed her own sign language to communicate with her parents, then learned to lip-read by putting her fingers on the lips of the person to whom she was talking.
At the turn of the 20th century blindness was a forbidden subject in women's magazines because so many cases were related to venereal disease. However after Helen Keller graduated with honors from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1904, she became a crusader for the handicapped.
American right wing historian and political theorist Lothrop Stoddard was born on June 29, 1883. Stoddard's analysis divided world politics and situations into "white," "yellow," "black," "Amerindian," and "brown" peoples and their interactions. He argued that race and heredity were the guiding factors of history and civilization and that the elimination or absorption of the "white" race by "colored" races would result in the destruction of Western civilization.
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Lothrop Stoddard |
For more June 29 anniversaries, including the first transpacific flight, from the mainland United States to Hawaii, T. S. Eliot conversion to Anglicanism from Unitarianism and the marriage of Marilyn Monroe to Arthur Miller check out OnThatDay.
Henry Tudor was born June 28, 1491 at Greenwich Palace, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. A charming and loveable boy, Henry was bought up at his mother's home, Eltham Palace in South East London. By the age of 3, Henry was riding a horse from Greenwich to Westminster Palace. His older brother, Arthur was the heir to the throne, but died of tuberculosis aged 15. When his father died Henry succeeded him becoming at 18 Henry VIII of England.
John Wesley was born on June 28, 1703 in Epworth, 23 miles (37 km) NW of Lincoln. His father, Samuel was a staunch High Churchman whose lifework was to minister to the inhabitants of the North Lincolnshire marshlands. His Mother Susannah was also very devout and both his parents were influenced by the Pietist movement. John was brought up in poverty; his father served in one of England's lowest-paying parishes and was rarely out of debt even spending time in debtor's prison.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712 at 40, Grand Rue, Geneva. He was bought up his watchmaker father and an aunt after his mother died nine days after his birth. Jean Jacques left Geneva aged 16 and traveled around France, where he met his benefactress, the Baronnesse de Warens. She furthered his education to such a degree that the boy who had arrived on her doorstep having never been to school developed into a philosopher, a man of letters, and a musician.
Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama to Kate Adams and newspaper editor and Confederate Army Captain, Arthur H. Keller. Helen lost her sight and hearing at 19 months, probably from scarlet fever or meningitis. As a child, she developed her own sign language to communicate with her parents, then learned to lip-read by putting her fingers on the lips of the person to whom she was talking.
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Helen Keller portrait, 1904. |
A leftist political activist and women's suffragist, Keller ended up being investigated by the FBI most of her adult life.
A prolific author, she wrote 14 books and hundreds of speeches including her 1903 autobiography, The Story of My Life, detailing her early life and childhood education with radical teacher, Anne Sullivan.
For more June 27 anniversaries, including the patent for a pin-tumbler lock and key, the first man to sail single-handedly around the world, and the first identifiable case of the Ebola virus in humans check out OnThatDay.
The tallest woman ever, Zeng Jinlian, was born on June 26, 1964. Jinlian was from Yujiang village in the Bright Moon Commune, Hunan Province, China. The giant Chinese teenager measured 246.3 cm (8 ft 1 in) and because of spine curvature she could not stand at full height. The only woman verified to have reached 8 feet (240 cm) Zeng suffered from diabetes, dying aged 17 in 1982.
The tallest woman ever, Zeng Jinlian, was born on June 26, 1964. Jinlian was from Yujiang village in the Bright Moon Commune, Hunan Province, China. The giant Chinese teenager measured 246.3 cm (8 ft 1 in) and because of spine curvature she could not stand at full height. The only woman verified to have reached 8 feet (240 cm) Zeng suffered from diabetes, dying aged 17 in 1982.
For more June 26 anniversaries, including the worst lightning strike disaster ever recorded, the unveiling of the first electric/gasoline hybrid motor vehicle, and the marriage of T.S. Eliot to Vivienne Haigh-Wood check out OnThatDay.
The Reverend Samuel Marsden was born on June 25, 1765 in Farsley, near Pudsey, Yorkshire in England. After emigrating to Australia on 1793 he became the colony's senior Anglican cleric. Marsden developed an interest in evangelizing New Zealand. and in late 1814 he took his brig, the "Active" on an exploratory journey to the Bay of Islands, during which time he conducted the first Christian service on New Zealand soil to a 400-strong Māori congregation.
English writer George Orwell was born Eric Arthur Blair on June 25, 1903, in Motihari, Bengal Presidency (present-day Bihar), in the then British colony of India. His father worked there for the Opium Department of the Civil Service. With his characteristic humor, Orwell would later describe his family's background as "lower-upper-middle class." Eric's mother brought him to England at the age of one. Orwell is best known for his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
The Reverend Samuel Marsden was born on June 25, 1765 in Farsley, near Pudsey, Yorkshire in England. After emigrating to Australia on 1793 he became the colony's senior Anglican cleric. Marsden developed an interest in evangelizing New Zealand. and in late 1814 he took his brig, the "Active" on an exploratory journey to the Bay of Islands, during which time he conducted the first Christian service on New Zealand soil to a 400-strong Māori congregation.
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Marsden 1833 |
For more June 25 anniversaries, including the first female student in history to receive a PhD, the invention of barbed wire and the publication of the first Sherlock Holmes story, check out OnThatDay.
Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 24, 1813. His siblings included Uncle Tom's Cabin writer Harriet Beecher Stowe and educator Catharine Beecher. Henry had a childhood stammer and was considered slow-witted; his less than stellar performance at Biston Latin school earned him punishments such as being forced to sit for hours in the girls' corner wearing a dunce cap.
Congregationalist clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 24, 1813. His siblings included Uncle Tom's Cabin writer Harriet Beecher Stowe and educator Catharine Beecher. Henry had a childhood stammer and was considered slow-witted; his less than stellar performance at Biston Latin school earned him punishments such as being forced to sit for hours in the girls' corner wearing a dunce cap.
Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina the third of four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop. Lionel's parents were huge Lionel Richie fans and they named their son after the singer. Messi began football at a young age and his potential was quickly seen by Barcelona FC. He left Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Spain.
For more June 24 anniversaries, including the first European since the Vikings to set foot on the North America mainland, the founding of Manila and Butch Cassidy's first major crime, check out OnThatDay.
The powerful Japanese feudal lord Oda Nobunaga was born on June 23, 1534. He attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period, and successfully gained control over most of Honshu Nobunaga's rule was noted for innovative military tactics, fostering free trade, reform of Japan's civil administration, and encouraging the start of the Momoyama historical art period, but also the brutal suppression of opponents.
Joséphine was the first wife of Napoleon and the first Empress of the French after he proclaimed himself Emperor.
The powerful Japanese feudal lord Oda Nobunaga was born on June 23, 1534. He attempted to unify Japan during the late Sengoku period, and successfully gained control over most of Honshu Nobunaga's rule was noted for innovative military tactics, fostering free trade, reform of Japan's civil administration, and encouraging the start of the Momoyama historical art period, but also the brutal suppression of opponents.
Joséphine de Beauharnais was born in Les Trois-Îlets, Martinique on June 23, 1763. Her father was a manager of a plantation there having retired from French naval service. The willowy Joséphine was among the gayest of French women in her era. She was good-natured, with refined manners, grace and charm.
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Baron François Gérard - Joséphine in coronation costume - Google Art Project |
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom was born on June 23, 1894, White Lodge, Richmond Park, on the outskirts of London as the first son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, (later King George V and Queen Mary). He was christened Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, the last four names being patron saints of the British Isles countries. He was known to his family and close friends as David.
Just 11 months after becoming king, Edward VIII abdicated because of the furor over his liaison with the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
For more June 23 anniversaries, including The Battle of Bannockburn, the longest ever professional baseball game and the first man to successfully walk across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope, check out OnThatDay.
The actress Meryl Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey on June 22, 1949. Meryl Streep had operatic lessons at the age of 12 from vocal coach Estelle Liebling. Later she played the title role in Florence Foster Jenkins, about an opera singer who was known for her painful lack of singing skill. Streep originally applied to Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things.
The actress Meryl Streep was born in Summit, New Jersey on June 22, 1949. Meryl Streep had operatic lessons at the age of 12 from vocal coach Estelle Liebling. Later she played the title role in Florence Foster Jenkins, about an opera singer who was known for her painful lack of singing skill. Streep originally applied to Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things.
For more June 22 anniversaries, including the invention of the ring-shaped doughnut, Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee procession and France's surrender to Nazi Germany, check out OnThatDay
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was born at 9:03 pm on June 21, 1982 at St Mary's Hospital, London. Since birth, William has been second in the line of succession to the British throne.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge was born at 9:03 pm on June 21, 1982 at St Mary's Hospital, London. Since birth, William has been second in the line of succession to the British throne.
William was the first ever heir to the throne to be born in a hospital. His father is Charles III and his mother was Diana, Princess of Wales. He has one younger brother, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
For more June 21 anniversaries, including the launch of the first Ferris wheel, the marriage of Richard Nixon and Pat Ryan and the world's first stored-program computer running its first computer program, check out OnThatDay.
Audie Leon Murphy, one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, was born on June 20, 1925. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor, the USA's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration, for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for holding off an entire German company alone.
Audie Leon Murphy, one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, was born on June 20, 1925. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor, the USA's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration, for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for holding off an entire German company alone.
The actress Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 20, 1967 while her Australian parents were temporarily in the United States on educational visas. As a result Kidman can claim citizenship in Australia and the United States. At school her nickname was 'Stalk' - at 13 she was already 5.9 inches. At 5'11" Kidman is taller than most actresses. Kidman's first movie was in 1983. It was called BMX Bandits.
For more June 20 anniversaries, including the granting of a royal charter for Oxford University, West Virginia becoming the thirty-fifth state of the United States, and the first man-made object to reach space, check out OnThatDay.
James VI and I of the UK was born on June 19, 1566. He was the eldest son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley. He became King of Scotland at 13 months old when his mother was forced to abdicate the throne. James was seen as the most likely heir to the English throne through his great-grandmother Margaret Tudor, who was Henry VIII's oldest sister. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the last of Henry VIII's descendants, he became James I of the UK in March 1603.
James VI and I of the UK was born on June 19, 1566. He was the eldest son of Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley. He became King of Scotland at 13 months old when his mother was forced to abdicate the throne. James was seen as the most likely heir to the English throne through his great-grandmother Margaret Tudor, who was Henry VIII's oldest sister. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the last of Henry VIII's descendants, he became James I of the UK in March 1603.
French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal was born on June 19, 1623 in Clermont-Ferrand, which is in France's Auvergne region. His father, Étienne Pascal, was a local judge, who also had an interest in science and mathematics. Beginning in 1631, Blaise's father devoted himself entirely to the education of his son, who showed extraordinary mental and intellectual abilities, occasionally taking him along to the Academy of Science meetings.
Though best known for his works in mathematics, including the creation of Pascal's Triangle, which is named after him, and developments in the field of probability, Pascal's earliest contributions were in the applied and natural sciences where he focused on fluids and the concepts of pressure and vacuum. He also invented the mechanical calculator.
German pharmacist Frederick Sertürner was born on June 19, 1783. In December 1804 Sertürner isolated the alkaloid compound morphine from unripe poppy blossoms. As he found it gave relief from severe pain, and relaxed the patient by making him drowsy, he named the drug after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Morphine was the first ever alkaloid to be isolated from any plant.
Charles Spurgeon, the "Prince of Preachers," was born on June 19, 1834, in Kelvedon, in the English county of Essex. His father and grandfather were both independent ministers. In 1854, three months before his 20th birthday, Spurgeon was appointed Baptist pastor at New Park Street Chapel, in Southwark, London. Spurgeon quickly gained fame for his directness in preaching, which seemed to some to border on irreverence. But the power of his sermons led to many conversions.
For more June 19 anniversaries, including the declaration of The War of 1812, The Great Whiskey Fire of Dublin and the marriage of Martin Luther King Jr to Coretta Scott King, check out OnThatDay.
Paul McCartney was born June 18, 1942 in Walton Hospital, Liverpool, where his mother, Mary had qualified to practice as a nurse. His father, James ("Jim") McCartney was absent from his son's birth due to his work as a volunteer firefighter during World War II.
Paul McCartney was born June 18, 1942 in Walton Hospital, Liverpool, where his mother, Mary had qualified to practice as a nurse. His father, James ("Jim") McCartney was absent from his son's birth due to his work as a volunteer firefighter during World War II.
Paul McCartney wrote his first song, "I Lost My Little Girl", when he was 14 in 1956. A 15-year-old Paul McCartney first met 16-year-old John Lennon at a St Peter’s Parish Church party in Woolton, Liverpool in 1957.
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McCartney, holding a guitar, in 2010. By Oli Gill Wikipedia Commons |
A 15-year-old Paul McCartney first met 16-year-old John Lennon at a St Peter’s Parish Church party in Woolton, Liverpool in 1957. Lennon's group, The Quarrymen were performing at the do whilst Paul, who was baptized a Roman Catholic but was being raised without religion attended the function. Lennon's group The Quarrymen were performing at the do. Impressed by McCartney's ability to tune a guitar and by his knowledge of song lyrics, Lennon asked him to join his band as lead guitarist.
In the late 1950s The Quarrymen was renamed the Silver Beatles (a wordplay on the musical term beat that also paid tribute to rocker Buddy Holly's Crickets) before being shortened to The Beatles.
The Beatles are the best-selling group of all time, estimated to have sold over one billion records worldwide. They have had more #1 singles and albums than any other musical group and are the only band with 6 diamond albums, meaning sales of 10 million each: Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, The Beatles 1962-1966, The Beatles 1967-1970, The White Album, The Beatles.
For more June 18 anniversaries, including the declaration of The War of 1812, The Great Whiskey Fire of Dublin and the marriage of Martin Luther King Jr to Coretta Scott King, check out OnThatDay.
The German musical instrument maker Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann was born on June 17, 1805. There is a persistent legend that Buschmann invented the harmonica (and maybe the accordion) but this cannot be substantiated. Buschmann stated in a letter of 1828 that he had just invented a new instrument, but the manufacture of harmonicas had begun some years previously in Vienna.
The German musical instrument maker Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann was born on June 17, 1805. There is a persistent legend that Buschmann invented the harmonica (and maybe the accordion) but this cannot be substantiated. Buschmann stated in a letter of 1828 that he had just invented a new instrument, but the manufacture of harmonicas had begun some years previously in Vienna.
Harold Gillies, the father of plastic surgery, was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on June 17, 1882. Following the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. He developed during this time many of the techniques of modern facial surgery in caring for soldiers suffering from disfiguring facial injuries usually from gunshot wounds during the war.
The creator of the chocolate chip cookie, Ruth Wakefield, was born on June 17, 1903. She created the chocolate chip cookie for her guests at the Toll House Inn, near Whitman, Massachusetts. In 1937. Ruth Wakefield sold her chocolate chip cookie recipe to Nestle for $1 and a lifetime supply of chocolate and toured the country.
For more June 17 anniversaries, including The Battle of Bunker Hill, the last public guillotining in France and the first human kidney transplant surgery, check out OnThatDay.
Philosopher and economist, Adam Smith "The Father of Economics," was born in Kirkcaldy, in the County of Fife, Scotland on June 16, 1723. At around the age of four, Adam was kidnapped by a band of gypsies, but he was quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. Smith's biographer, John Rae, commented wryly that he feared Smith would have made "a poor gypsy."
Philosopher and economist, Adam Smith "The Father of Economics," was born in Kirkcaldy, in the County of Fife, Scotland on June 16, 1723. At around the age of four, Adam was kidnapped by a band of gypsies, but he was quickly rescued by his uncle and returned to his mother. Smith's biographer, John Rae, commented wryly that he feared Smith would have made "a poor gypsy."
Apache leader Geronimo was born June 16, 1829 near Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Gila River in the modern-day state of Arizona, then part of Mexico. In March 5, 1851, while he was away on a trading expedition, Geronimo's camp near Janos was attacked by 400 Mexican soldiers led by Colonel Jose Maria Carrasco. Among those killed were Geronimo's wife, children, and mother. The incident sparked a life-long hatred of the white man.
Comic actor Stan Laurel was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson on June 16, 1890 in Ulverston, Lancashire, England. In 1910, with the stage name of "Stan Jefferson", Laurel joined Fred Karno's troupe of actors, which also included a young Charlie Chaplin. The British music hall nurtured him, and he got his first break as understudy for Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin and Laurel arrived in the United States on the same ship from Britain with the Karno troupe and toured the country.
For more June 16 anniversaries, including the opening of the first roller coaster designed as an amusement ride in America, the founding of Ford Motor Company, and the first woman in space, check out OnThatDay.
Prince Edward of Woodstock, better known as Edward the Black Prince , was born at Woodstock Palace, Oxfordshire, on June 15, 1330. He was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Edward began his military career with his father's Norman campaign. When a messenger told Edward III that his 16-year-old son was in the thick of the fighting and in some danger at the Battle of Crécy, the king refused to recall or help young Edward. "Let the boy win his spurs", was all his father said.
Prince Edward of Woodstock, better known as Edward the Black Prince , was born at Woodstock Palace, Oxfordshire, on June 15, 1330. He was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Edward began his military career with his father's Norman campaign. When a messenger told Edward III that his 16-year-old son was in the thick of the fighting and in some danger at the Battle of Crécy, the king refused to recall or help young Edward. "Let the boy win his spurs", was all his father said.
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An old print of the Palace of Woodstock |
Edvard Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, on June 15, 1843. His mother, Gesine Hagerup, the daughter of Bergen's mayor, was a concert pianist and was Edvard's first piano teacher. Edvard started composing when he was about 12 and took his compositions to school, but the teacher did not show much interest in them. In the summer of 1858 the great Norwegian violinist Ole Bull visited the family and persuaded his parents to send their son to the Leipzig Conservatory to study music.
For more June 15 anniversaries, including the sealing of The Magna Carta, the end of The Peasants Revolt, and the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a high wire, check out OnThatDay.
Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 1811. Harriet was the seventh child of an Evangelical Protestant clergyman, Lyman Beecher. By the age of 6, Harriet could read well and had memorized two long chapters of the Bible. Harriet began writing aged 12 as a hobby, mainly tales and sketches. One of her first works was a prize essay on the subject "Can the Immortality of the Soul be Proved by the Light of Nature."
Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 1811. Harriet was the seventh child of an Evangelical Protestant clergyman, Lyman Beecher. By the age of 6, Harriet could read well and had memorized two long chapters of the Bible. Harriet began writing aged 12 as a hobby, mainly tales and sketches. One of her first works was a prize essay on the subject "Can the Immortality of the Soul be Proved by the Light of Nature."
Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was born in Queens, New York City on June 14, 1946. He is the son of Fred Trump, a real estate developer, and his wife, Mary Anne. Donald was enrolled at the age of 13 in the New York Military Academy, a private boarding school, He received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
For more June 14 anniversaries, including the marriage of Rembrandt to Saskia van Uylenburg, the adoption of the "Stars and Stripes" as the national flag of the United States, and the first African-American singer to perform on television, check out OnThatDay
James Clerk Maxwell was born on June 13, 1831 at 14 India Street, Edinburgh. In Maxwell's 1865 publication, A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field,, he proposed that light is an undulation in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena. The unification of light and electrical phenomena proved that radio waves are possible.
James Clerk Maxwell was born on June 13, 1831 at 14 India Street, Edinburgh. In Maxwell's 1865 publication, A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field,, he proposed that light is an undulation in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena. The unification of light and electrical phenomena proved that radio waves are possible.
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James Clerk Maxwell, painted by Jemima Blackburn |
The development of radio, TV and radar were the direct consequences of his research. Maxwell also carried out pioneering work in optics and color vision.
For more June 13 anniversaries, including the marriage of Charles I of England to Henrietta Maria, the first British monarch to travel by train, and The Beatles last US number one single, check out OnThatDay.
George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1924. Before he went to college, Bush served in the Navy until the end of World War II. Bush began his career in 1948 working in the oil industry in Texas. He gained the nomination in 1988 to run for president winning with 54% of the popular vote and 426 out of 537 electoral votes.
George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st President of the United States, was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts on June 12, 1924. Before he went to college, Bush served in the Navy until the end of World War II. Bush began his career in 1948 working in the oil industry in Texas. He gained the nomination in 1988 to run for president winning with 54% of the popular vote and 426 out of 537 electoral votes.
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Portrait of President George H.W. Bush cropped and reuploaded by Emiya1980 |
For more June 12 anniversaries, including the marriage of Frederick the Great of Prussia to Princess Elisabeth Christine, the first flight by a Boeing 777 airliner, and the world’s oldest message in a bottle check out OnThatDay.
English poet, playwright and critic Ben Jonson was born on June 11, 1572 in Westminster, London. As a child, Ben was said to be so ugly and ridiculously clothed that he was tormented by his schoolmates. He spent his time reading to forget his misery. The second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I, today he is best remembered for his satiric comedies and his lyric and epigrammatic poetry.
English poet, playwright and critic Ben Jonson was born on June 11, 1572 in Westminster, London. As a child, Ben was said to be so ugly and ridiculously clothed that he was tormented by his schoolmates. He spent his time reading to forget his misery. The second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I, today he is best remembered for his satiric comedies and his lyric and epigrammatic poetry.
English landscape painter John Constable was born in East Bergholt, in Suffolk on June 11, 1776. He was the son of a wealthy corn merchant, Golding Constable, who owned several windmills and watermills. Constable's father was reluctant to let him pursue the uncertain career of an artist and insisted he went into the family business. Realizing that his son’s passion for art would not abate, Constable's father gave him an allowance enabling him to study at the Royal Academy in London.
Politician Jeannette Pickering Rankin was born on June 11, 1880. In 1916, she became the first woman to hold national office in the United States when, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives by the state of Montana. An ardent pacifist, she believed that President Franklin D. Roosevelt provoked war with the Japanese, and was the only member of Congress to vote against the declaration of war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
For more June 11 anniversaries, including the marriage of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg to his cousin Nina Hagerup, the graduation of George S Patton from West Point, and the creation of the Pizza Margherita, check out OnThatDay.
Prince Philip was born on a kitchen table in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921. He was born into the Greek and Danish royal families, the fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. In December 1922, following unrest after Greece’s defeat in the Greco-Turkish War, Philippos' family was exiled, and fled the country aboard HMS Calypso. The royal baby was carried aboard in a cot made from a fruit box.
Prince Philip was born on a kitchen table in Mon Repos on the Greek island of Corfu on June 10, 1921. He was born into the Greek and Danish royal families, the fifth and final child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. In December 1922, following unrest after Greece’s defeat in the Greco-Turkish War, Philippos' family was exiled, and fled the country aboard HMS Calypso. The royal baby was carried aboard in a cot made from a fruit box.
Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota on June 10, 1922.
Garland's birthplace in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, now a museum. Her parents were vaudevillians who settled in Grand Rapids to run a movie theater that featured vaudeville acts. Judy Garland's first appearance came at the age of one-and-a-half when she joined her two older sisters on the stage of her father's movie theater and sang a chorus of "Jingle Bells". She was billed as Baby Frances.
For more June 10 anniversaries, including the first marketing of mustard powder, the first use of the SOS distress signal and the first mass market personal computer, check out OnThatDay.
Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672 in Moscow and given the name Pyotr Alekseyevich. He was the 14th child of Czar Alexis of Russia and the first of his father's second wife Nataliya Naryshkina. Peter's mother had the benefit of a progressive education and her influence helped develop his natural intelligence and abilities as a leader. When his elder half-brother Fyodor III died in 1682, Peter, who was an intelligent and boisterous lad of ten, was chosen as his successor.
Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672 in Moscow and given the name Pyotr Alekseyevich. He was the 14th child of Czar Alexis of Russia and the first of his father's second wife Nataliya Naryshkina. Peter's mother had the benefit of a progressive education and her influence helped develop his natural intelligence and abilities as a leader. When his elder half-brother Fyodor III died in 1682, Peter, who was an intelligent and boisterous lad of ten, was chosen as his successor.
As Tsar, Peter the Great modernized his nation, remodeling the legal systems, centralizing Russian administration and encouraging education. He also extended Russian territory to the west and south east and made Russia one of the major sea powers of Europe. His reign was the golden age of Russia.
George Stephenson, "the father of railways," was born on June 9, 1781 in Wylam, Northumberland. By 1801 his skill with steam-driven machinery had become well known and he was given the important job of engineer at the Killingworth collieries. In 1814 Stephenson persuaded the Killingworth manager to allow him to build a steam-powered locomotive for hauling coal on the Killingworth wagonway. Altogether he produced 16 locomotives there.
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One of the Killingworth engines |
George Stephenson is most famous for constructing the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which was the first public, steam-operated, urban rail system in history.
For more June 9 anniversaries, including the marriage of Louis XIV of France to Infanta Maria Theresa of Spain, the coining of the term piano recital, and the first car commercial on television, check out OnThatDay
The composer Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Germany. Robert inherited a love of romantic poetry from his bookstore owning father. Robert began to study law at Leipzig, largely to please his mother, but his real interest lay in music, and in 1830 his piano teacher, Friedrich Wieck, persuaded Schumann's mother to let him give up law. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era was also an influential music critic.
The composer Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Germany. Robert inherited a love of romantic poetry from his bookstore owning father. Robert began to study law at Leipzig, largely to please his mother, but his real interest lay in music, and in 1830 his piano teacher, Friedrich Wieck, persuaded Schumann's mother to let him give up law. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era was also an influential music critic.
Schumann's birthplace, now the Robert Schumann House |
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in the farming town of Richland Center, Wisconsin, United States, on June 8, 1867. His education included attending Madison High School. Wright turned to architecture on seeing their newly erected wing of the Wisconsin state capitol collapse. One of the outstanding architects of the 20th century, Wright influenced design over the world by his freedom from convention and rule.
Tim Berners-Lee was born on June 8, 1955, in London, the son of Mary Lee Woods, a mathematician, and Conway Berners-Lee, a mathematician and computer scientist. Tim Berners-Lee is famous for inventing the World Wide Web, revolutionizing the way information is shared and accessed on the internet.
For more June 8 anniversaries, including the beginning of the Viking invasion of the British Isles. the publication of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, and the celebration of the first World Oceans Day, check out OnThatDay.
George Bryan "Beau" Brummell was born in London on June 7, 1778. After inheriting a reasonably sized family fortune, Brummell dedicated his life to maintaining the lifestyle of a "gentleman of fashion." His main claim to fame was that he got rid of the prevalent fashion for massive wigs, powder and face paint. Brummel wanted men to look manly again and one way he achieved this was to popularize the wearing of trousers, which sounded the death knell for breeches.
George Bryan "Beau" Brummell was born in London on June 7, 1778. After inheriting a reasonably sized family fortune, Brummell dedicated his life to maintaining the lifestyle of a "gentleman of fashion." His main claim to fame was that he got rid of the prevalent fashion for massive wigs, powder and face paint. Brummel wanted men to look manly again and one way he achieved this was to popularize the wearing of trousers, which sounded the death knell for breeches.
For more June 7 anniversaries, including the coronation of The Sun King, 15-year-old King Louis XIV of France, the deadliest non-nuclear man-made explosion in history and the first British monarch to make an official visit to the United States of America, check out OnThatDay.
Louis Antoine Godey, the publisher of Godey's Lady's Book, was born on June 6, 1804. The largest magazine circulation of its time, Godey's Lady's Book,'s illustrations not only influenced nineteenth century women's fashions, but would become documents for social historians and prized items for collectors.
Louis Antoine Godey, the publisher of Godey's Lady's Book, was born on June 6, 1804. The largest magazine circulation of its time, Godey's Lady's Book,'s illustrations not only influenced nineteenth century women's fashions, but would become documents for social historians and prized items for collectors.
A publisher also of children's and music journals, Godey was among the first to copyright magazine contents.
English sailor and explorer Robert Falcon Scott was born on June 6, 1868, in Stoke Damerel, near Devonport, Plymouth, Devon to John Edward, a brewer and magistrate, and Hannah (née Cuming) Scott. Robert was educated from a young age for a career in the armed services He began his naval career in 1881, as a 13-year-old cadet. Scott attempted to be the first person to reach the South Pole, but Roald Amundsen reached the location first and he perished on his return journey.
Tennis star Bjorn Borg was born on June 6, 1956, in Stockholm, Sweden. Borg is famous for being one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He is particularly known for his dominance in the late 1970s and early 1980s, winning multiple Grand Slam titles and revolutionizing the sport with his cool demeanor and baseline play.
For more June 6 anniversaries, including first US President to ride on the railway, the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century and the first sale of frozen foods, check out OnThatDay.
Sarah Jennings, later Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was born on June 5, 1660. Sarah was a confidante of the future Queen Anne who created Marlborough a duke on her accession to the throne. In later life, the Duke of Marlborough was undermined by political intrigue and he fell heavily from royal favor reputedly because his wife’s constant bad temper became too much for even the devoted Queen Anne. When Sarah Jennings died in 1744, she left a fortune of £3 million.
British furniture maker Thomas Chippendale was born at Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire on June 5, 1718. He was the only child of a joiner John Chippendale, and his first wife Mary (née Drake). Chippendale was famous for his graceful Neoclassical furniture, especially cabinets and chairs and his self-promotional zeal ensured they became a by-word for elegance among England's 18th-century elite. However his lack of business acumen saw him die like a pauper.
Sarah Jennings, later Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, was born on June 5, 1660. Sarah was a confidante of the future Queen Anne who created Marlborough a duke on her accession to the throne. In later life, the Duke of Marlborough was undermined by political intrigue and he fell heavily from royal favor reputedly because his wife’s constant bad temper became too much for even the devoted Queen Anne. When Sarah Jennings died in 1744, she left a fortune of £3 million.
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Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough |
British furniture maker Thomas Chippendale was born at Otley, West Riding of Yorkshire on June 5, 1718. He was the only child of a joiner John Chippendale, and his first wife Mary (née Drake). Chippendale was famous for his graceful Neoclassical furniture, especially cabinets and chairs and his self-promotional zeal ensured they became a by-word for elegance among England's 18th-century elite. However his lack of business acumen saw him die like a pauper.
For more June 5 anniversaries, including the founding of the city of Houston, the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, check out OnThatDay.
George III of the United Kingdom was born at Norfolk House, London on June 4, 1738. He was the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months premature and was thought unlikely to survive, he was baptized the same day.
George III of the United Kingdom was born at Norfolk House, London on June 4, 1738. He was the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months premature and was thought unlikely to survive, he was baptized the same day.
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George III by Allan Ramsay, 1762 |
George succeeded to the UK throne when his grandfather, George II, died suddenly on October 25, 1760. His father had died unexpectedly from a lung injury nine years earlier). He reigned for 59 years and 2 months, which was longer than any other British monarch before him.
Pal, the star of Lassie Come Home and six other Lassie films was born on June 4, 1940. Lassie Come Home, starring Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor was filmed by MGM in 1943. Altogether, 298 dogs were auditioned for the title role, a male Rough Collie called Pal was chosen to play the female dog. He would star in six more Lassie films and died in 1958 at the grand old age of 18.
For more June 4 anniversaries, including the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon, the release of Bruce Springsteen's Born In The USA album and the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, check out OnThatDay.
American businessman William Phelps Eno was born on June 3, 1858. He was responsible for many of the earliest traffic laws. In 1903, Eno developed the first city traffic code in the world at Columbus Circle, New York City. Among the innovations credited to Eno are traffic regulations, the stop sign, the pedestrian crosswalk, the traffic circle, the one-way street, the taxi stand, and pedestrian safety islands. Ironically, William Phelps Eno never drove a car himself.
American businessman William Phelps Eno was born on June 3, 1858. He was responsible for many of the earliest traffic laws. In 1903, Eno developed the first city traffic code in the world at Columbus Circle, New York City. Among the innovations credited to Eno are traffic regulations, the stop sign, the pedestrian crosswalk, the traffic circle, the one-way street, the taxi stand, and pedestrian safety islands. Ironically, William Phelps Eno never drove a car himself.
King George V was born on June 3, 1865, in Marlborough House, London. He was the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra). George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from May 6. 1910 until his death in 1936.
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George as a young boy in 1870 |
Tennis star Rafael Nadal was born June 3, 1986 in Manacor, Majorca, Spain. Rafael first began playing tennis at the age of three under the guidance of his Uncle Tom, a former professional tennis player. Rafael was born right-handed. He played two-handed on both sides as a small child and then with a one-handed forehand with his natural right arm. At the age of 9 or 10, his uncle switched him to a left-handed forehand and serve after seeing his perfect backhand moves.
For more June 3 anniversaries, including the completion of the first long-distance electric power transmission line in the US, Britain’s first ever live sport TV broadcast and the first American to take a spacewalk, check out OnThatDay.
The writer and poet Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840 in a thatched, stonemason's cottage in Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, Dorset in south west England.
For more June 3 anniversaries, including the completion of the first long-distance electric power transmission line in the US, Britain’s first ever live sport TV broadcast and the first American to take a spacewalk, check out OnThatDay.
The writer and poet Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840 in a thatched, stonemason's cottage in Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, Dorset in south west England.
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A portrait of Thomas Hardy in 1923 |
He acquired an early interest in books, which his well-read mother encouraged. Thomas was reading Dryden and Johnson before the age of 10.
After several years working as an architect in London, Hardy settled at Weymouth in 1867 because of concerns about his health and decided to dedicate himself to writing.
He wrote his first novel Poor Man and the Lady the same year, but he failed to find a publisher partly because it was deemed too politically controversial.
He gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure(1895).
Hardy thought his poetry would outlive his prose, however, his novels won more laurels with the public than the critics and to this day none of his novels have ever gone out of print.
English composer Edward Elgar was born on June 2, 1857 in Broadheath, Worcestershire to the owner of a music shop, William and Ann, the daughter of a farm worker.
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Edward Elgar, c. 1900 |
In 1899 Elgar wrote an orchestral piece, the Enigma Variations. Its variations are based on the countermelody to an unheard theme, a supposedly well-known tune that Elgar never identified. Each variation describes one of his friends, but he did not say which friends they were: he only put their initials or nickname at the top of each variation.
Elgar’s most popular piece is the first of his five Pomp and Circumstance Marches. It has the tune which is sung to the words “Land of Hope and Glory” and the audience always join in singing it at the Last Night of the Proms. Also American high school, college, and university graduates often march down the aisles of auditoriums to the work.
Elgar was the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of acoustic recordings of his works.
For more June 2 anniversaries, including the only presidential wedding performed in the White House, the granting of citizenship to all Native Americans born within the territorial limits of the United States, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, check out OnThatDay.
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926. Her mother was emotionally unstable and frequently confined to an asylum, so Norma Jean was reared by a succession of foster parents and in an orphanage. She was discovered while building drone aircraft at Radioplane Company in 1944 and signed a contract with the Blue Book Model Agency.
In 1946 Mortenson signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, taking as her screen name Marilyn Monroe. After two short-lived film contracts, Monroe was signed by 20th Century-Fox in 1951. She became one of the most bankable Hollywood actresses with starring roles in comedies such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955).
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Mortenson in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926. Her mother was emotionally unstable and frequently confined to an asylum, so Norma Jean was reared by a succession of foster parents and in an orphanage. She was discovered while building drone aircraft at Radioplane Company in 1944 and signed a contract with the Blue Book Model Agency.
In 1946 Mortenson signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, taking as her screen name Marilyn Monroe. After two short-lived film contracts, Monroe was signed by 20th Century-Fox in 1951. She became one of the most bankable Hollywood actresses with starring roles in comedies such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Seven Year Itch (1955).
Troubled by mental health and addiction problems, Monroe was found dead by her housekeeper in her Los Angeles home at age 36 in the early morning hours of August 5, 1962.
For more June 1 anniversaries, including Kentucky's admission as the 15th state of the United States, the first demonstration of wirelessly controlling at a distance, and the launch of the television station CNN check out OnThatDay.
Walter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, USA. His parents Walter and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman immediately nicknamed him "Walt" to distinguish him from his father. Whitman is considered one of the most important and influential American poets both for the style and subject matter of his work. He is best known for his free verse poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which scandalized the public with for its overt celebration of sexuality.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrK9j8s-2hh0Z90rwWS0XgJfZcnJGVZgMHLoCMDnIjKlA9h67cThpgzYV4-zsMFbaNaLZW1JeycVhppWe0O_bQAWn0mpBJSMoQ_Y7NgGQAL6qyTzb7XN6twn65PczmKIdxv7CMQPO6Wor/w499-h640/330px-Walt_Whitman_-_Brady-Handy_restored.png)
Walter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, USA. His parents Walter and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman immediately nicknamed him "Walt" to distinguish him from his father. Whitman is considered one of the most important and influential American poets both for the style and subject matter of his work. He is best known for his free verse poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which scandalized the public with for its overt celebration of sexuality.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrK9j8s-2hh0Z90rwWS0XgJfZcnJGVZgMHLoCMDnIjKlA9h67cThpgzYV4-zsMFbaNaLZW1JeycVhppWe0O_bQAWn0mpBJSMoQ_Y7NgGQAL6qyTzb7XN6twn65PczmKIdxv7CMQPO6Wor/w499-h640/330px-Walt_Whitman_-_Brady-Handy_restored.png)
Clint Eastwood was born in San Francisco, California on May 31. 1930. His parents were Clinton Eastwood Sr., a steelworker and migrant worker, and Margaret Ruth (née Runner) Eastwood, an IBM factory worker. He was nicknamed "Samson" by the hospital nurses at birth as he weighed 11 lbs 6 ounces. (5.2 kg) Eastwood was a logger, steel furnace stoker and gas station attendant before becoming an actor. His first starring role was Rowdy Yates in the US TV Western series Rawhide.
For more May 31 anniversaries, including Samuel Pepys' last entry in his diary, the premiere of Gioachino Rossini's La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) opera , and the oldest bride in history check out OnThatDay.
Penny Ann Early was born May 30, 1943. She became the first licensed female jockey in the United States in 1968. In protest, male jockeys unanimously refused to ride in the first few races in which Early was slated to appear at the Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky to prevent her from competing.
Penny Ann Early was born May 30, 1943. She became the first licensed female jockey in the United States in 1968. In protest, male jockeys unanimously refused to ride in the first few races in which Early was slated to appear at the Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky to prevent her from competing.
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Penny Ann Early |
Early also achieved another notable first when she became the first woman to play major professional basketball. She came on during a time out for the Kentucky Colonels in an ABA game against the Los Angeles Stars on November 27, 1968. (At just 5'3" and 112 pounds, she was also the smallest pro basketball player ever).
For more May 30 anniversaries, including the beginning of the Peasants' Revolt in England, the marriage of Oscar Wilde to Constance Lloyd, and the founding of Nike, check out OnThatDay
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope was born on May 29, 1903, in London, England to a Welsh mother and English father. In 1908, the Hopes migrated to Cleveland, Ohio. From the age of 12, he entered many dancing and amateur talent contests (as Lester Hope) and won a prize in for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. He changed his name from Leslie to Bob, because in school they would call the roll as 'Hope, Leslie' and classmates shortened it to hopeless.
For more May 30 anniversaries, including the beginning of the Peasants' Revolt in England, the marriage of Oscar Wilde to Constance Lloyd, and the founding of Nike, check out OnThatDay
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope was born on May 29, 1903, in London, England to a Welsh mother and English father. In 1908, the Hopes migrated to Cleveland, Ohio. From the age of 12, he entered many dancing and amateur talent contests (as Lester Hope) and won a prize in for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. He changed his name from Leslie to Bob, because in school they would call the roll as 'Hope, Leslie' and classmates shortened it to hopeless.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born May 29, 1917, at 83 Beals Street in Brookline, Massachusetts to businessman/politician Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. (1888–1969) and philanthropist/socialite Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald-Kennedy (1890–1995).
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According to the Miller Center, John F. Kennedy enjoyed a "privileged childhood of elite private schools, sailboats, servants and summer homes" during the Great Depression. He later claimed that he only learned about the Great Depression in the books he read at college.
On November 8, 1960, John F Kennedy was elected President of the United States, beating Richard Nixon by the narrowest of margins - 113,000 votes out of the 69 million cast. Kennedy was just 43, the youngest President ever to be elected. The first Roman Catholic to become president, Kennedy made a great impact on the nation before he was assassinated in 1963.
For more May 29 anniversaries, including the overthrow of the Byzantine Empire, the marriage of Oscar Wilde to Constance Lloyd, and the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring", check out OnThatDay.
William Pitt the Younger was born at Hayes Place in the village of Hayes, Kent on May 28, 1759. His father William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, was British Prime Minister between 1756-61 and 1766-68. He is regarded as the founder of the British Empire. Three years after Pitt the Younger entered Parliament as the member for Appleby in 1781, he became the youngest British prime minister at age 24.
William Pitt the Younger was born at Hayes Place in the village of Hayes, Kent on May 28, 1759. His father William Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham, was British Prime Minister between 1756-61 and 1766-68. He is regarded as the founder of the British Empire. Three years after Pitt the Younger entered Parliament as the member for Appleby in 1781, he became the youngest British prime minister at age 24.
James Bond author Ian Fleming was born on May 28, 1908 at 27 Green Street in the wealthy London district of Mayfair. His mother was Evelyn St Croix Rose, and his father was Valentine Fleming, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Henley from 1910. Fleming worked for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War. He modeled the character of James Bond after Merlin Minshall, a man who worked for Fleming during the war as a spy.
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Ian Fleming. By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Wikipedia Commons |
Ian Fleming got the name 'James Bond' from a real-life ornithologist from Philadelphia who was named 'James Bond'. Fleming had a copy of his book, The Birds of the West Indies and took a liking for that name.
For more May 28 anniversaries, including the trademarking of Jell-O, the first all-talking, all-color feature length movie and the establishment of The Volkswagen company, check out OnThatDay.
American women's clothing reformer Amelia Bloomer was born on May 27, 1818 in Homer, New York. Bloomer founded and edited the journal Lily where she advocated a move away from starched petticoats and whale-bone fitted corsets to something giving women freedom of movement. In 1851, she told her American readers how to make the Turkish-style pantaloons and short skirt that she had adopted — and within weeks newspapers dubbed it the ‘Bloomer’ dress.
American women's clothing reformer Amelia Bloomer was born on May 27, 1818 in Homer, New York. Bloomer founded and edited the journal Lily where she advocated a move away from starched petticoats and whale-bone fitted corsets to something giving women freedom of movement. In 1851, she told her American readers how to make the Turkish-style pantaloons and short skirt that she had adopted — and within weeks newspapers dubbed it the ‘Bloomer’ dress.
The singer Dolores DeFina was born on May 27, 1909. In February 1934, Dolores DeFina married Bob Hope - she had been one of his co-stars on Broadway in Roberta. The couple adopted four children: Eleanora, Anthony, Linda, and Kelly. The couple lived at 10342 Moorpark Street in Toluca Lake, California from 1937 until his death.
For more May 27 anniversaries, including Louis IX of France's marriage to Marguerite de Provence, the opening of the Chrysler Building in New York City and Snoop Dogg breaking the world record for "the largest paradise cocktail", check out OnThatDay.
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was born on May 26, 1650 at Ash House, near Axminster, Devon. He yearned to be a courtier and in 1662 Churchill became a page at the court of the House of Stuart. He earned military and political advancement through his courage and diplomatic skill. His victories at Blenheim, Ramillies Oudenarde, and Malplaquet during the War of the Spanish Succession, ensured his place in history as one of Europe's great generals.
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough was born on May 26, 1650 at Ash House, near Axminster, Devon. He yearned to be a courtier and in 1662 Churchill became a page at the court of the House of Stuart. He earned military and political advancement through his courage and diplomatic skill. His victories at Blenheim, Ramillies Oudenarde, and Malplaquet during the War of the Spanish Succession, ensured his place in history as one of Europe's great generals.
John Wayne, the archetypal Western star, was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907 at 224 South Second Street in Winterset, Iowa. Wayne's college buddy, director Raoul Walsh, saw him moving studio furniture while working as a prop boy and cast him in his first starring role in The Big Trail (1930). It was during this time that Marion Morrison became "John Wayne," when Raoul Walsh didn't think Marion was a good name for an actor playing a tough western hero.
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John Wayne Pixiebay |
Born May 26, 1951, astronaut Dr. Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to be sent into space when she was selected to serve on a six- day flight of the orbiter Challenger in 1983. At the time, she was the youngest American to enter outer space.
For more May 26 anniversaries, including Nicholas II's formal coronation as Russian Tsar, publication of the first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for stocks, and the adoption of the European flag, check out OnThatDay
American philosopher, poet, and academic Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803. His father was a Unitarian minister, and Emerson initially followed his footsteps, attending Harvard Divinity School. Boston's Second Church invited Emerson to serve as its junior pastor and in time Emerson developed a belief system that espoused a non-traditional appreciation of nature called Transcendentalism. He first wrote about this view in an essay called Nature in 1836.
American philosopher, poet, and academic Ralph Waldo Emerson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 25, 1803. His father was a Unitarian minister, and Emerson initially followed his footsteps, attending Harvard Divinity School. Boston's Second Church invited Emerson to serve as its junior pastor and in time Emerson developed a belief system that espoused a non-traditional appreciation of nature called Transcendentalism. He first wrote about this view in an essay called Nature in 1836.
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Emerson |
For more May 25 anniversaries, including the last outbreak of bubonic plague in Western Europe, the world's first fountain pen patent, and the release of Star Wars, check out OnThatDay
German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit was born on May 24, 1686 in Danzig (Gdańsk), then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1714, Gabriel Fahrenheit constructed the mercury thermometer, the first sealed thermometer. He discovered a method for cleaning mercury so that it would not stick to a glass tube, which enabled him to use this element rather than alcohol, which had given less accurate results.
German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit was born on May 24, 1686 in Danzig (Gdańsk), then in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1714, Gabriel Fahrenheit constructed the mercury thermometer, the first sealed thermometer. He discovered a method for cleaning mercury so that it would not stick to a glass tube, which enabled him to use this element rather than alcohol, which had given less accurate results.
Queen Victoria was born at 4.15 a.m. on May 24, 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. She was the only child of Edward, the Duke of Kent, the fourth son of George III, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Victoria was eleven when she realized she would be next in line for the UK throne. When the implication sank in she had a good cry. Then she controlled herself and said solemnly to her Governess. "I will be good."
Robert Zimmerman was born on May 24, 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota. His parents, Abram Zimmerman and Beatrice "Beatty" Stone, were part of the area's small but close-knit Jewish community. He briefly attended the University of Minnesota, where he began performing in coffeehouses as Bob Dylan. The former Robert Zimmerman told in 1978 “I just chose that name and it stuck.
For more May 24 anniversaries, including the purchase of Manhattan Island, the publication of "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and the opening of New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, check out OnThatDay
Austrian physician and hypnosis pioneer Franz Mesmer was born on May 23, 1734. Mesmer took up an idea that a power existed which he referred to as "animal magnetism" and a person became ill when their "animal magnetism" was out of balance. Mesmer claimed to use it as a medical treatment to heal certain nervous ailments. As he claimed the attention of scientists Mesmer's name became renowned through the coining of the term's "mesmerism" and "mesmerise".
Austrian physician and hypnosis pioneer Franz Mesmer was born on May 23, 1734. Mesmer took up an idea that a power existed which he referred to as "animal magnetism" and a person became ill when their "animal magnetism" was out of balance. Mesmer claimed to use it as a medical treatment to heal certain nervous ailments. As he claimed the attention of scientists Mesmer's name became renowned through the coining of the term's "mesmerism" and "mesmerise".
For more May 23 anniversaries, including the patenting of the first accordion, the establishment of the Mounties and the killing of Bonnie and Clyde, check out OnThatDay
Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 to an ethnic German family in the Jewish quarter of Leipzig. He was the ninth child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Police. Several of his elder sisters became opera singers or actresses.
Richard Wagner was born on May 22, 1813 to an ethnic German family in the Jewish quarter of Leipzig. He was the ninth child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner of the Police. Several of his elder sisters became opera singers or actresses.
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Richard Wagner in 1871 |
Wagner attended an 1829 performance by famed dramatic soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, and he would credit her with inspiring his sense of music and drama and how they could be most effectively used in opera. He was the first person to see opera as a unification of the musical, poetical and scenic elements. By directing romantic music into the field of dramatic storytelling, Wagner transformed the opera into a new art form.
The author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born the third of ten children on May 22, 1859 at 11 Picardy Street, Edinburgh. Even at school he had the impulse to write and he produced his first story at the age of six. Doyle practiced between 1882-90 as a family doctor at Southsea, England. His medical practice was unsuccessful and his income was so small that he begun writing stories to help make ends meet. The popularity of Doyle's detective, Sherlock Holmes, created a pattern for the crime tale and popularized it as a genre.
Predominantly of Native Indian descent, all-round sportsman James "Jim" Thorpe was born near Prague, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), on May 22, 1888. In 1907 Thorpe began his athletic career there when he walked past his school's athletic track and beat all the school's high jumpers with an impromptu 5-ft 9-in leap despite being in street clothes. He won Olympic gold medals in the 1912 pentathlon and decathlon, and played American football, professional baseball, and basketball.
For more May 22 anniversaries, including the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, the Wright brothers receiving a patent for their "Flying-Machine," and the most powerful earthquake ever recorded, check out OnThatDay.
Philip II of Spain was born on May 21, 1527 at Palacio de Pimentel in the Spanish capital of Valladolid. His father was Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, and his mother Infanta Isabella of Portugal. Philip was their only son to survive childhood. Charles V became convinced of Philip's potential statesmanship, and so he determined to leave in his hands the regency of Spain in 1543. Philip began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen.
Philip II of Spain was born on May 21, 1527 at Palacio de Pimentel in the Spanish capital of Valladolid. His father was Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, and his mother Infanta Isabella of Portugal. Philip was their only son to survive childhood. Charles V became convinced of Philip's potential statesmanship, and so he determined to leave in his hands the regency of Spain in 1543. Philip began governing the most extensive empire in the world at the young age of sixteen.
English poet Alexander Pope was born on May 21, 1688. From his early childhood Alexander suffered numerous health problems, including Pott's disease (a form of tuberculosis affecting the spine) which deformed his body and stunted his growth. Considered the foremost English poet of the early 18th century, Pope is remembered for his frequent poetic use of the heroic couplet. After Shakespeare, he is the second-most quoted author in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
Elizabeth Fry was born on May 21, 1780 in the family's town house at Gurney Court, off Magdalen Street in Norwich, Norfolk. Elizabeth's mother, Catherine, was the most important influence on her life. A devout Quaker, she was very involved in charity work and when Catherine visited and helped the sick and poor in the district, Betsy loved to go with her mother. From her mid 30s onwards, Elizabeth made it her life's work to improve the conditions in prisons in England.
For more May 21 anniversaries, including the marriage of Catherine of Braganza to Charles II of England, the conversion of hymn writer Charles Wesley from High Church to Evangelical Christianity and the patenting of the first shopping bag, check out OnThatDay.
English economist and political philosopher John Stuart Mill was born on Rodney Street in the Pentonville area of London on May 20, 1806. John Stuart was a notably precocious child. At the age of three, he was taught the Greek alphabet and long lists of Greek words with their English equivalents. By the age of eight, he had read Aesop's Fables, Xenophon's Anabasis, the whole of Herodotus and other great Greek and Roman authors.
English economist and political philosopher John Stuart Mill was born on Rodney Street in the Pentonville area of London on May 20, 1806. John Stuart was a notably precocious child. At the age of three, he was taught the Greek alphabet and long lists of Greek words with their English equivalents. By the age of eight, he had read Aesop's Fables, Xenophon's Anabasis, the whole of Herodotus and other great Greek and Roman authors.
Antoinette Blackwell, the first ever Protestant woman minister, was born on May 20, 1825. Blackwell was inspired by evangelical revivals to enrol at the Presbyterian Oberlin College and study theology, but as a woman she was refused a degree and ordination. After lecturing on women's rights and occasionally preaching at progressive churches, she was appointed in 1853 pastor by the First Congregational Church in South Butler, New York.
Uruguayan politician José Mujica was born on May 20, 1935. A former left-wing guerrilla leader who spent almost 15 years in prison during the country's military rule, Mujica served as the 40th President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. He was called "the world's 'poorest' president" as he donated around 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities to help poor people and small entrepreneurs.
For more May 20 anniversaries, including Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India, the first modern atlas and the establishment of the oldest public elementary school in North America, check out OnThatDay.
André René Roussimoff was born on May 19, 1946, Best known as André the Giant, he was a French professional wrestler, actor and giant who grew to the height of 7 ft 4 in (224 cm). André the Giant grew so fast that his own parents didn't recognize him. He left home at 14 and returned at 19, having already become a professional wrestler. As he explained his career choice, they realized they had seen him wrestle on TV under his alias, without knowing it was their son.
André René Roussimoff was born on May 19, 1946, Best known as André the Giant, he was a French professional wrestler, actor and giant who grew to the height of 7 ft 4 in (224 cm). André the Giant grew so fast that his own parents didn't recognize him. He left home at 14 and returned at 19, having already become a professional wrestler. As he explained his career choice, they realized they had seen him wrestle on TV under his alias, without knowing it was their son.
For more May 19 anniversaries, including the first man-made object to fly-by another planet, the death of the oldest ever tortoise and the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, check out OnThatDay.
Nicholas II of Russia was born in Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg on May 18, 1868. He was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III, who was a repressor of all liberal ideas. His mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark), was the sister of Britain's Queen Alexandra.
For more May 18 anniversaries, including the marriage of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the founding of Boston by John Winthrop and the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history, check out OnThatDay.
The most successful pirate captain of the Golden Age of Piracy, Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts was born on May 17, 1682. Roberts had very strict rules on his ship, prohibiting all lights and drinking after eight in the evening. There was also a complete ban on gambling. If a crew member got hurt, he received a pension proportionate to his injury.
For more May 17 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first American Academy, the relief by British troops of Mafeking during the Second Boer War and the first televised sports event in the US, check out OnThatDay
Welsh-born scientist and professor of music David Edward Hughes was born on May 16, 1831. The first microphone that enabled proper voice telephony was the (loose-contact) carbon microphone (then called transmitter). This was independently developed by David Edward Hughes in England and Emile Berliner and Thomas Edison in the US in the mid 1870s. Hughes' microphone used a piece of pine board to pick up sound.
Nicholas II of Russia was born in Alexander Palace, Saint Petersburg on May 18, 1868. He was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III, who was a repressor of all liberal ideas. His mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia (formerly Princess Dagmar of Denmark), was the sister of Britain's Queen Alexandra.
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Nicholas, unbreeched at two years old, with his mother, Maria Feodorovna, in 1870 |
Nicholas was seen as too soft by his hard, demanding father who, not anticipating his own premature death, did nothing to prepare his son for the crown. When his father passed away on November 1, 1894, the 26-year-old Nicholas was poorly prepared to rule. He faced the task of being autocrat of Russia in a time of major turmoil. Nicholas reportedly said “what am I to do. What is to become of Russia? I am not yet prepared to be Tsar.”
During his reign the Russian Empire fell from one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Nicholas II chose to abdicate as Russian Tsar at the end of the "February Revolution" of 1917. After the Bolsheviks seized power Nicholas and his family were all killed by a firing squad.
Pope Saint John Paul II was born in the Polish town of Wadowice on May 18, 1920. He was the youngest of three children born to Karol Wojtyła, an ethnic Pole and Emilia Kaczorowska. In mid-1938, Wojtyła enrolled at the Jagiellonian University. While studying such topics as philology and various languages, he learned as many as 12 foreign languages, nine of which he used extensively as pope. Karol Wojtyla was ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1946.
The most successful pirate captain of the Golden Age of Piracy, Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts was born on May 17, 1682. Roberts had very strict rules on his ship, prohibiting all lights and drinking after eight in the evening. There was also a complete ban on gambling. If a crew member got hurt, he received a pension proportionate to his injury.
Reverend Robert Shields was born on May 17, 1918. He was a former minister and high school English teacher who lived in Dayton, Washington, USA. His 37.5-million-word diary , the world’s longest, chronicled every five minutes of his life from 1972 until a stroke disabled him in 1997.
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Rev Robert Shields |
For more May 17 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first American Academy, the relief by British troops of Mafeking during the Second Boer War and the first televised sports event in the US, check out OnThatDay
Welsh-born scientist and professor of music David Edward Hughes was born on May 16, 1831. The first microphone that enabled proper voice telephony was the (loose-contact) carbon microphone (then called transmitter). This was independently developed by David Edward Hughes in England and Emile Berliner and Thomas Edison in the US in the mid 1870s. Hughes' microphone used a piece of pine board to pick up sound.
Herman Webster Mudgett, more commonly known as H. H. Holmes, was born on May 16, 1861. He was the first recognized serial killer in United States history. While he confessed to 27 murders, only nine could be plausibly confirmed. Holmes, who sold the skeletons of his victims to medical science, was hanged in Philadelphia in 1896.
The gymnast Olga Korbut was born on May 16, 1955, in Grodno, Belorussian S.S.R. (now Belarus). Korbut captivated the world at the 1972 Olympics at Munich with her lithe grace and charm. She won a gold medal as a member of the winning Soviet team, as well as individual golds in the beam and floor exercises. The Associated Press awarded her the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Trophy, which had not been given to a competitor from the Soviet Union or its satellite countries since 1931.
For more May 16 anniversaries, including the first known public performance in Britain to use a piano, the marriage of Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste (later Louis XVI of France) and the first optical laser, check out OnThatDay
Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi was baptized (birth date unknown) on May 15, 1567, in Cremona, Duchy of Milan (now Lombardy, Italy). During his childhood, Claudio was taught by Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Cremona. Claudio learned composition, singing and how to play string instruments such as the viol and viola da braccio. He was only 15 when he published his first pieces of music; a book of three part motets.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMlKerKd1ppiWfcI1YfJFcL6eBm8Y0AceTH7HP3JBsYAxOhqoJwtiU2ZYTfvIIc4qssS4hgr0MBjQ76jeJpkCelWZgR7u-AVGphVRrRl9f2yb7sYt2H9FE9il0yYYsD0JZhYqVGXmAcC5S46EbkREgNajYalSdi2tRnQXIgvHBnfpUJ-SESg8qrav3ocA/w529-h640/Bernardo_Strozzi_-_Claudio_Monteverdi_(c_1630).jpg)
Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi was baptized (birth date unknown) on May 15, 1567, in Cremona, Duchy of Milan (now Lombardy, Italy). During his childhood, Claudio was taught by Marc'Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella at the Cathedral of Cremona. Claudio learned composition, singing and how to play string instruments such as the viol and viola da braccio. He was only 15 when he published his first pieces of music; a book of three part motets.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMlKerKd1ppiWfcI1YfJFcL6eBm8Y0AceTH7HP3JBsYAxOhqoJwtiU2ZYTfvIIc4qssS4hgr0MBjQ76jeJpkCelWZgR7u-AVGphVRrRl9f2yb7sYt2H9FE9il0yYYsD0JZhYqVGXmAcC5S46EbkREgNajYalSdi2tRnQXIgvHBnfpUJ-SESg8qrav3ocA/w529-h640/Bernardo_Strozzi_-_Claudio_Monteverdi_(c_1630).jpg)
Monteverdi by Bernardo Strozzi, c. 1630 |
For more May 15 anniversaries, including the he first European to see Cape Cod, the first machine gun and the founding of Las Vegas, check out OnThatDay
Welsh textile manufacturer and social reformer Robert Owen was born on May 14, 1771. Owen raised the demand for a ten-hour working day in 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark. By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan: "Eight hours' labor, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest".
Welsh textile manufacturer and social reformer Robert Owen was born on May 14, 1771. Owen raised the demand for a ten-hour working day in 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark. By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan: "Eight hours' labor, Eight hours' recreation, Eight hours' rest".
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Robert Owen |
Hans Albert Einstein, the first son of Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić, was born on May 14, 1904. Hans became a professor of hydraulic engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, after having little interaction with his father during his childhood.
Peruvian Lina Medina became on May 14, 1939 the youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of at the age of five years, seven months and 17 days. Medina's son weighed 6.0 lb at birth and was named Gerardo after her doctor. Gerardo was raised believing that Medina was his sister, but found out at the age of 10 that she was his mother. The biological father who impregnated Lina was never identified.
For more May 14 anniversaries, including four-year-old Louis XIV becoming King of France, the premiere of Felix Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture also known as "Fingal's Cave" and the establishment of the State of Israel, check out OnThatDay
Arthur Sullivan was born in London on May 13, 1842, the son of a poor Irish musician. Before he met W S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan was Victorian England's most famous composer of popular and sacred songs and oratorios. "Onward! Christian Soldiers" is his best-known hymn; "The Lost Chord" is one of his songs. Sullivan did not want to be remembered for his comic operas as one half of Gilbert and Sullivan. "My sacred music is that on which I base my reputation as a composer."
Arthur Sullivan was born in London on May 13, 1842, the son of a poor Irish musician. Before he met W S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan was Victorian England's most famous composer of popular and sacred songs and oratorios. "Onward! Christian Soldiers" is his best-known hymn; "The Lost Chord" is one of his songs. Sullivan did not want to be remembered for his comic operas as one half of Gilbert and Sullivan. "My sacred music is that on which I base my reputation as a composer."
British physician Sir Ronald Ross was born on May 13, 1857. Intrigued by the theory that mosquitoes transmitted malaria, Ross undertook an investigation of the long-known disease. Using birds that were already sick with malaria, Ross located in 1897 the malaria parasite in the spotted winged Anopheles mosquito. He revealed that the ailment is carried in the mosquito's salivary glands and transferred to healthy birds through biting them.
Stevie Wonder was born Steveland Judkins in Saginaw, Michigan, on May 13, 1950. He was born six weeks premature and blinded soon after birth when too much oxygen was pumped into his incubator, Stevie Wonder mastered piano, bass, drums and harmonica before hitting his teenage years. In 1961 Wonder sang his own composition, "Lonely Boy" for Smokey Robinson of The Miracles. This earned him a contract with Motown.
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Wonder rehearsing for a performance on Dutch TV in 1967 |
In 1969, Motown gave Wonder complete control of his recordings. He was one of the first artists to write, produce, arrange, and perform his own songs.
For more May 13 anniversaries, including the longest marriage ever recorded, the first ever Formula One race and the first person to circumnavigate the Earth by amphibious vehicle, check out OnThatDay
German chemist Justus von Liebig was born on May 12, 1803. The invention of the silvered-glass mirror is credited to Liebig in 1835. His process involved the deposition of a thin layer of metallic silver onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. Liebig improved the technique twenty years later by adding copper to ammoniated silver nitrate and sugar.
German chemist Justus von Liebig was born on May 12, 1803. The invention of the silvered-glass mirror is credited to Liebig in 1835. His process involved the deposition of a thin layer of metallic silver onto glass through the chemical reduction of silver nitrate. Liebig improved the technique twenty years later by adding copper to ammoniated silver nitrate and sugar.
Florence Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 into a rich, upper-class, well-connected British family at the Villa Colombaia, near the Porta Romana, in Florence, Italy. She was named after the city of her birth. Florence had a strong desire to devote her life to the service of others from her late teens but at first she was respectful of her family's opposition to her working as a nurse, only announcing her decision to enter the field in 1844.
The composer Gabriel Fauré was born in Pamiers, Ariège, Midi-Pyrénées, in the south of France on May 12, 1845. The young Fauré often played the harmonium at the small chapel attached to the school where his father was director. An old blind lady heard him and told his father that he ought to send his boy to a good music school. The 9-year-old Fauré was sent to a music college in Paris, where among his teachers was Camille Saint-Saëns, who became a lifelong friend.
For more May 12 anniversaries, including the marriage of Richard I of England and Berengaria of Navarre, George VI of the UK's coronation and the presentation of the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer check out OnThatDay.
Irving Berlin was born in Tyumen, Russia on May 11, 1888. Tyumen is situated just east of the Ural Mountains and is often regarded as the first Siberian city, from the western direction. His father was a Jewish cantor who moved his family to New York to escape religious persecution in 1893.
Irving Berlin was born in Tyumen, Russia on May 11, 1888. Tyumen is situated just east of the Ural Mountains and is often regarded as the first Siberian city, from the western direction. His father was a Jewish cantor who moved his family to New York to escape religious persecution in 1893.
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Berlin at his first job with a music publisher, age 18 |
Berlin's big break came in 1906 when he was hired as a singing waiter at the Pelham Café in New York's Chinatown. He caught the eye of Harry Von Tilzer, who hired him to sing his songs at Tony Pastor's Music Hall, considered by many to be the birthplace of vaudeville. He had his first song published the following year.
Salvador Dalí was born on May 11, 1904 in the town of Figueres close to the French border in Catalonia, Spain. His father was a middle-class lawyer and notary. His mother tempered her husband's strict disciplinary approach and encouraged her son's artistic endeavors. In the 1920s, Salvador Dalí read Freud, took up with other emerging Surrealists, and began actively seeking his subconscious mind so as to paint the visions there.
For more May 11 anniversaries, including the consecration of the city of Constantinople, the oldest known dated printed book and the first documented use of the phrase "heavy metal," check out OnThatDay.
American publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was born on May 10, 1841. A successful publisher of the New York Herald, he sponsored explorers including Henry Morton Stanley's trip to Africa to find David Livingstone, and the ill-fated USS Jeannette attempt on the North Pole.
American publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was born on May 10, 1841. A successful publisher of the New York Herald, he sponsored explorers including Henry Morton Stanley's trip to Africa to find David Livingstone, and the ill-fated USS Jeannette attempt on the North Pole.
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Portrait of James Gordon Bennett, Jr. |
An outlandish international playboy, he’d turn up in restaurants drunk and cause havoc. Bennett's exploits gave rise to the exclamation ‘Gordon Bennett!’, to express shock.
Fred Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska on May 10, 1899. Fred began dancing at the age of four. Fred formed a child act with his sister, Adele, that became popular at the time. Their first act was called "Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty." Adele eventually married, leaving Astaire to begin his solo career.
"Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little." Fittingly, the studio toad who wrote that screen-test evaluation of a young Fred Astaire is long forgotten, but the greatest dancer in movie history is not.
For more May 10 anniversaries, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette becoming King and Queen of France, the Treaty of Frankfurt ending the Franco-Prussian War and the completion of the first submerged circumnavigation of Earth, check out OnThatDay.
James Matthew Barrie was born on May 9, 1860 in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland to a conservative Calvinist family. He was a small child and only grew to just over 5 ft 3 inches as an adult. He didn't shave until he was 24.
James Matthew Barrie was born on May 9, 1860 in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland to a conservative Calvinist family. He was a small child and only grew to just over 5 ft 3 inches as an adult. He didn't shave until he was 24.
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J. M. Barrie by George Charles Beresford, 1902 |
When he was 6-years-old, James Barrie's older brother David (his mother's favorite) died two days before his 14th birthday in an ice-skating accident. This left his mother devastated, and Barrie tried to fill David's place in his mother's attentions, even dressing as him and whistling in the manner that he did. Gradually his mother drew comfort in the thought of a boy who would never grow up.
Barrie was friends with Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies and entertained their sons George and Jack regularly with his ability to wiggle his ears and eyebrows. The character of Peter Pan was invented to entertain George and Jack. Barrie would say, to amuse them, that their little brother Peter could fly. He claimed that babies were birds before they were born; parents put bars on nursery windows to keep the little ones from flying away. This grew into a tale of a baby boy who did fly away.
The first appearance of Peter Pan came in Barrie's novel The Little White Bird, which was serialized in the United States, then published in a single volume in the UK in 1902.
Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up had its first stage performance on 27 December 1904.
After the death of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies, he adopted their five sons: Peter, Jack, George, Michael and Nicholas. Barrie was very close to all the boys, and was heartbroken when Michael drowned in 1921 and George was killed in action in 1915.
For more May 9 anniversaries, including Thomas Blood's attempt to steal the Crown Jewels, the creation of root beer, and the designation of the bison as the official mammal of the United States, check out OnThatDay.
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri. Harry spent most of his youth on his family's 550-acre farm near Independence, Missouri.
Harry S. Truman had no middle name. His parents gave him the middle initial S to honor his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. Truman was the last U.S. President to not have a college degree. However, he was a voracious reader and remained so all of his life.
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, was born on May 8, 1884, in Lamar, Missouri. Harry spent most of his youth on his family's 550-acre farm near Independence, Missouri.
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Truman's birthplace and childhood home in Lamar, Missouri. By Kbh3rd |
Harry S. Truman had no middle name. His parents gave him the middle initial S to honor his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. Truman was the last U.S. President to not have a college degree. However, he was a voracious reader and remained so all of his life.
For more May 8 anniversaries, including the first documented Europeans to reach the Mississippi River, the first sale of Coca-Cola and Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces, check out OnThatDay.
Among the famous people born on May 7th are:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_gS4qYHP1PYPlnV6OgDnTPmADOUl66_7nNGNJeGoPKISUM0QwNvrh5uMaH5AgTOBMbHtORIqhyYRH9YSDvy4cJ2lKJsuteyh0fJPl9nVwDXMO8VBwziVD66KqQNIX8sCtnaVbncoEj1Z/w373-h640/800px-Brahms_geburtshaus_in_Hamburg.jpg)
Among the famous people born on May 7th are:
The English poet Robert Browning was born on May 7, 1812 at Southampton Way, Camberwell, London, England. Robert's father Robert Browning, a man of fine intellect and character, was a well-off clerk for the Bank of England. Robert was an extremely bright child and voracious reader and his father encouraged his interest in literature and the arts. By the age of twelve, Browning had written a book of poetry which he later destroyed when no publisher could be found.
The German composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany on May 7, 1833. Johannes came from a humble but happy background. His father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was a poor (financially) musician who played the double bass in the orchestra of the Stadtheatre at Hamburg. His mother, Henrika Christiane Nissen, was a seamstress never previously married, who was seventeen years older than he was.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij_gS4qYHP1PYPlnV6OgDnTPmADOUl66_7nNGNJeGoPKISUM0QwNvrh5uMaH5AgTOBMbHtORIqhyYRH9YSDvy4cJ2lKJsuteyh0fJPl9nVwDXMO8VBwziVD66KqQNIX8sCtnaVbncoEj1Z/w373-h640/800px-Brahms_geburtshaus_in_Hamburg.jpg)
Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 in Votkinsk, a grim industrial town halfway between Moscow and the Ural mountains. His father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky was a Ukrainian mining engineer who managed the Kamsko-Votkinsk Ironworks. Pyotr was a withdrawn child, who was affected by abnormal insensitivity. He sought refuge in music from an early age and began piano lessons at the age of five showing remarkable gifts.
For more May 7 anniversaries, including the founding of the city of New Orleans, the premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the deadliest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, check out OnThatDay.
The Father of Modern Psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, was born to Jewish Galician parents on May 6, 1856.
His Psychoanalysis method aimed to bring to the surface the conflicts of the unconscious mind to help find the reason for disturbance. Patients revealed their unconscious conflict through talking. He was able to teach his patients to stand on their feet by lying on couches. Freud's work changed the whole approach to mental illness, for the first time symptoms had meaning and they were seen as sick people rather than weirdos.
Sigmund Freud published Interpretation Of Dreams on November 4, 1899 in which he argued that understanding dreams can give an insight into our personality. It was slow to take off, the first edition selling only 351 copies in its first six years. However, in time it became the book that gave Freud worldwide recognition.
The Father of Modern Psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, was born to Jewish Galician parents on May 6, 1856.
His Psychoanalysis method aimed to bring to the surface the conflicts of the unconscious mind to help find the reason for disturbance. Patients revealed their unconscious conflict through talking. He was able to teach his patients to stand on their feet by lying on couches. Freud's work changed the whole approach to mental illness, for the first time symptoms had meaning and they were seen as sick people rather than weirdos.
Sigmund Freud published Interpretation Of Dreams on November 4, 1899 in which he argued that understanding dreams can give an insight into our personality. It was slow to take off, the first edition selling only 351 copies in its first six years. However, in time it became the book that gave Freud worldwide recognition.
Rudolph Valentino, the archetypical romantic lead of the silent movie era was born Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Piero Filiberto Guglielmi in Castellaneta, Italy on May 6, 1895. He featured in several films in a minor role until 1921. Valentino got his major break when he appeared in the role of Julio in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and he went on to play leading roles in fourteen films as a romantic figure.
George Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother, Nina Bruce (née Warren) was a beauty queen. His father, Nick Clooney is a former anchorman and television host. While he was a struggling actor in Los Angeles, George Clooney's friend let him stay in his apartment – but owing to a lack of spare room, he had to sleep in a closet.
For more May 6 anniversaries, including the invention of mechanical refrigeration, the Hindenburg zeppelin disaster and the opening of The Channel Tunnel, check out OnThatDay
Karl Marx was born into a progressive middle class Jewish family on May 5, 1818 at Bruckenstrausse 10, Trier, Prussia, (now Germany). The Marx household hosted many visiting intellectuals and artists during Karl's early life.
Karl Marx was born into a progressive middle class Jewish family on May 5, 1818 at Bruckenstrausse 10, Trier, Prussia, (now Germany). The Marx household hosted many visiting intellectuals and artists during Karl's early life.
In 1830 Karl Marx started attending Trier High School. His senior thesis, which anticipated his later development of a social analysis of religion, was a treatise entitled Religion: The Glue That Binds Society Together, for which he won a prize.
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Marx's birthplace in Trier. By Berthold Werner, Wikipedia Commons |
John Batterson Stetson was born into a family of New Jersey hatters on May 5, 1830, the 8th of 12 children. Stetson was diagnosed with tuberculosis and he left New Jersey to explore the American West. In 1865 he designed The Boss of the Plains, a lightweight all-weather hat for the demands of the American West. Stetson's cowboy hat was later renamed "Stetson" after the maker. The Stetson soon became the most well-known headgear in the West.
The singer Adele was born on May 5, 1988 in Tottenham, London. Her first public singing performance was in a school presentation where she sang "Rise" by Gabrielle. When she got her first record deal, Adele made just one change to her smoking habit: she moved from roll-up cigarettes to Marlboro Lights. One of the executive producers told Adele to lose weight. But she replied: "I write music for ears; not eyes.
For more May 5 anniversaries, including Christopher Columbus landing in Jamaica, the death of Napoleon and Ben and Jerry opening their first ice cream parlor, check out OnThatDay.
Florentine harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori was born on May 4, 1655. In 1709 the Cristofori came up with an instrument, which merged the clavichord's ability to vary notes dynamically with the harpsichord's crisp sound. He called it called a un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"). The name was abbreviated over time as pianoforte, fortepiano, and later, simply, piano.
Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston at 48 Rue Keyenveld in Ixelles, a municipality in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 1929. She didn't start calling herself Audrey Hepburn until 1948.
Florentine harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori was born on May 4, 1655. In 1709 the Cristofori came up with an instrument, which merged the clavichord's ability to vary notes dynamically with the harpsichord's crisp sound. He called it called a un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte ("a keyboard of cypress with soft and loud"). The name was abbreviated over time as pianoforte, fortepiano, and later, simply, piano.
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1720 Cristofori piano in the Metropolitan Museum New York. By Shriram Rajagopalan |
Alice Liddell, the model for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was born on May 4, 1852
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland grew out of a story told by Charles Dodgson to amuse three little girls, Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christchurch (see below) and her two sisters during a rowing trip. Afterwards he wrote down the story for the ten-year-old Alice. Alice Hargreaves (Liddell) died in 1934 and is buried at St Michael's Church, Lyndhurst, Hants.
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Alice Liddell, aged 7, photographed by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1860 |
Audrey Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston at 48 Rue Keyenveld in Ixelles, a municipality in Brussels, Belgium on May 4, 1929. She didn't start calling herself Audrey Hepburn until 1948.
During the Battle of Arnheim, 16-year-old Audrey Hepburn was a volunteer nurse in a Dutch hospital. She helped a young British paratrooper, Terence Young, who later directed her in Wait until Dark in 1967.
For more May 4 anniversaries, including the first meeting between The Honorable Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce, the surrender of the German forces preceding the end of World War II in Europe, and the first Grammys ceremony, check out OnThatDay.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469. Niccolò was the third child and first son of Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli. Both parents were members of the old Florentine nobility.
Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby on May 3, 1903 in Spokane, Washington to parents of Anglo-Irish heritage.
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469. Niccolò was the third child and first son of Bernardo di Niccolò Machiavelli, a lawyer of some repute and his wife, Bartolomea di Stefano Nelli. Both parents were members of the old Florentine nobility.
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Statue at the Uffizi |
Early in 1498 Machiavelli was prompted to the rank of second chancellor and secretary to Florentine head of state Piero Soderini. Between 1503 and 1506 Machiavelli was responsible for the Florentine militia. He distrusted mercenaries and instead, inspired by ancient Roman history, staffed his army with citizens. His attempts to fortify Florence failed, and the soldiery that he raised astonished everybody by their cowardice.
In August 1512, the Medici, backed by Pope Julius II used Spanish troops to defeat the Florentines at Prato. Machiavelli was dismissed from his role as chancellor and on November 7, 1512; he was arrested, imprisoned, and subjected to the rack as a suspected schemer against the Medici family.
Machiavelli was only released upon Giovanni de' Medici's election to the papacy in March 1513 as Pope Leo X.
In 1513, Machiavelli wrote Il Principe (The Prince), a handbook for rulers written whilst struggling to make ends meet after getting sacked by the Medici. It was based on his observations of Cesare Borgia.
Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby on May 3, 1903 in Spokane, Washington to parents of Anglo-Irish heritage.
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Bing Crosby |
The nickname Bing that he would carry with him throughout his life is attributable to the Bingville Bugle, which was a newspaper parody that he was fond of.
The invention of the microphone enabled a soft, intimate vocal tone to be amplified and projected into a large hall, thus making possible the art of crooners such as Crosby. His singing career was around fifty years long and more than 500 million records of his have been sold worldwide.
For more May 3 anniversaries, including the first codified national constitution in Europe, the first duel from two hot air balloons, and the first spam e-mail, check out OnThatDay.
Catherine the Great was born on May 2, 1729 in Stettin in the Prussian province of Pomerania (now Szczecin), Poland) to Christian von Anhalt-Zerbst, a minor German prince, and Elizabeth of Holstein. She was christened Princess Sophie Auguste Von Anhalt-Zerbst.
Catherine the Great was born on May 2, 1729 in Stettin in the Prussian province of Pomerania (now Szczecin), Poland) to Christian von Anhalt-Zerbst, a minor German prince, and Elizabeth of Holstein. She was christened Princess Sophie Auguste Von Anhalt-Zerbst.
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Portrait of Empress Catherine the Great by Russian painter Fyodor Rokotov |
In 1744, the Russian Tsarina Elizabeth selected Sophie as the wife for her nephew, Peter, her chosen successor. Sophie changed her name to "Catherine" (Ekaterina or Yekaterina) when she accepted the Russian Orthodox faith.
Six months after Peter succeeded to the Russian throne in 1762, becoming Peter III, he was removed in a coup and assassinated eight days later. Some speculate that Catherine had ordered this, but there is no evidence to back this theory.
Catherine, although not descended from any previous Russian emperor, succeeded her husband on July 17, 1762. The coup was popular among the masses as the ex Tsar was greatly hated. The cheering soldiers called her "little mother." With a series of advisers who were also her lovers, Catherine expanded Russian territory by wars against the Turks and Poland. Influenced by the ideas circulating in Western Europe, she entertained writers and philosophers at her court.
For more May 2 anniversaries, including the arrest of Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, the first jetliner flight with fare-paying passengers, and the killing of Osama Bin Laden, check out OnThatDay.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was born on May 1, 1769 at 6 Lepper Merrion Street, Dublin, Ireland. Arthur was a rather delicate withdrawn child whose greatest love was playing the violin. Arthur enrolled at Eton College at the age of 12 where he failed to shine. He went on to attend a French military academy at Angers in France against the wishes of his mother who believed he had no talent for soldiering.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was born on May 1, 1769 at 6 Lepper Merrion Street, Dublin, Ireland. Arthur was a rather delicate withdrawn child whose greatest love was playing the violin. Arthur enrolled at Eton College at the age of 12 where he failed to shine. He went on to attend a French military academy at Angers in France against the wishes of his mother who believed he had no talent for soldiering.
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The Duke of Wellington wearing Field Marshal’s uniform |
Wellesley proved her wrong becoming one of the leading military of 19th-century Britain, leading British campaign against Napoleon in Spain and Portugal then ending the Napoleonic Wars when he defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He also served twice as prime minister.
For more May 1 anniversaries, including The Act of Union forming the Kingdom of Great Britain, the premiere of Mozart's comic opera, The Marriage of Figaro, and the marriage of Elvis Presley to Priscilla Beaulieu, check out OnThatDay.
Mary II of England was born at St. James's Palace in London on April 30, 1662. She was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York (the future James II), and his first wife, Anne Hyde. On April 11, 1689. William III (Prince of Orange) and Mary II were crowned at Westminster as joint monarchs. Mary II governed the realm for William, while he was away fighting, but acted on his advice. Each time he returned to England, Mary gave up her power to him unbegrudgingly. Such an arrangement lasted until her death from smallpox in 1694.
Mary II of England was born at St. James's Palace in London on April 30, 1662. She was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York (the future James II), and his first wife, Anne Hyde. On April 11, 1689. William III (Prince of Orange) and Mary II were crowned at Westminster as joint monarchs. Mary II governed the realm for William, while he was away fighting, but acted on his advice. Each time he returned to England, Mary gave up her power to him unbegrudgingly. Such an arrangement lasted until her death from smallpox in 1694.
For more April 30 anniversaries, including The Louisiana Purchase, the founding of the first gas company in the world to provide a public supply, the announcement of the discovery of the electron, and the first US president to speak on television, check out OnThatDay.
Czar Alexander II was born Alexander Nikolaevich in Moscow on April 29, 1818. He was the eldest son of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia (daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia and of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz). Alexander II succeeded to the Russian throne upon the death of his father and was the emperor of Russia from 1855 until 1881. He was also the king of Poland and the grand duke of Finland.
For more April 29 anniversaries, including James Cook's arrival in Australia at Botany Bay, Luciano Pavarotti's opera début, and the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Kate Middleton, check out OnThatDay.
Ferruccio Lamborghini, founder of Automobili Lamborghini, was born on April 28, 1916. Ferrucio Lamborghini began by making tractors out of parts from American and British military circles after the Second World War before turning to sports cars. He founded Lamborghini because he wanted to build a good touring car to compete against the cars of such makers as Ferrari.
The author Harper Lee was born Nelle Harper Lee in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. Lee was named in honor of a grandmother called Ellen; (Nelle is Ellen spelled backwards). Until the day she died, the people in her life referred to Lee as Nelle. Her father an editor, lawyer and politician (he served in the Alabama House of Representatives) is purported to be the model upon some of the characteristics for Atticus Finch (from To Kill a Mockingbird) was based.
For more April 28 anniversaries, including the first battle in history won by gunpowder weapons, the death of the world's most traveled goat, and the first commercial airline flight across the Pacific, check out OnThatDay.
The historian Edward Gibbon was born on April 27, 1737, the son of Edward and Judith Gibbon at Lime Grove, in the town of Putney, Surrey. Never a strong or active man, Gibbon was of diminutive stature, little more than 5 ft tall with a large head and uncommonly small bones. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788.
Czar Alexander II was born Alexander Nikolaevich in Moscow on April 29, 1818. He was the eldest son of Nicholas I of Russia and Charlotte of Prussia (daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia and of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz). Alexander II succeeded to the Russian throne upon the death of his father and was the emperor of Russia from 1855 until 1881. He was also the king of Poland and the grand duke of Finland.
Jazz musician Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was born to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington on April 29, 1899. They lived with his maternal grandparents at 2129 Ida Place (now Ward Place), NW in the West End neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Daisy and J.E. were both pianists. Daisy primarily played parlor songs and J.E. preferred operatic arias. Ellington's friends noticed that he acted like a gentleman, and gave him a nickname, "Duke."
Ferruccio Lamborghini, founder of Automobili Lamborghini, was born on April 28, 1916. Ferrucio Lamborghini began by making tractors out of parts from American and British military circles after the Second World War before turning to sports cars. He founded Lamborghini because he wanted to build a good touring car to compete against the cars of such makers as Ferrari.
The historian Edward Gibbon was born on April 27, 1737, the son of Edward and Judith Gibbon at Lime Grove, in the town of Putney, Surrey. Never a strong or active man, Gibbon was of diminutive stature, little more than 5 ft tall with a large head and uncommonly small bones. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788.
Samuel Morse was born on April 27, 1791. After establishing his reputation as a portrait painter, Morse devoted his middle age to creating a fast way of sending messages. He was prompted to do this after being told his his wife was ill via a horse messenger; but the letter had taken so long to reach him that by the time he arrived home, she was not only dead, but had been buried. The system of dots and dashes he came up with by which telegraphic messages are conveyed is named after him.
General Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States was born Hiram Ulysses Grant in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822, to Jesse Root Grant, a tanner and merchant, and Hannah Simpson Grant. President Grant’s real name was Hiram Ulysses Grant - the 'S' was a typo when he secured a nomination to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Grant changed his name at West Point to avoid having his military uniforms marked with initials "H.U.G."
For more April 27 anniversaries, including Ludwig Van Beethoven's composition of "Für Elise," the worst maritime disaster in US history, and the declaration of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII as saints, check out OnThatDay.
Emma, Lady Hamilton was born Amy Lyon, at Ness, near Neston in Cheshire, England on April 26, 1765. She was the daughter of Henry Lyon, a blacksmith who died when she was two months old. Emma is best remembered for being the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of the portrait painter George Romney.
Emma, Lady Hamilton was born Amy Lyon, at Ness, near Neston in Cheshire, England on April 26, 1765. She was the daughter of Henry Lyon, a blacksmith who died when she was two months old. Emma is best remembered for being the mistress of Lord Nelson and as the muse of the portrait painter George Romney.
For more April 26 anniversaries, including the first ever cocktail party in England. the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's final opera, Turandot, and the first voyage of the world's first commercially successful container ship, check out OnThatDay.
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector after the English Civil War, was born on April 25, 1599. He was the only son of a small but well to do landowner, Robert Cromwell, who died in 1617. He was related to Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's ministers.
A talented soldier, Cromwell was largely responsible for the parliamentary successes over Charles I during the English Civil War. Although at first he sought a reconciliation with the king, he eventually signed Charles' death warrant. The unconstitutional uncertainty that followed finally compelled Cromwell to assume the office of Lord Protector.
Guglielmo Marconi, known for his work on long distance radio transmission, was born into the Italian nobility in Bologna on April 25, 1874. Due to his father's dislike of his immature hobby of Morse code, the 10-year-old Giuseppe set up a laboratory in the attic, among his mother's trays of silkworms. He fiddled around with his early electrical transmitters, making his signals travel further and further. He had no idea they would lead to broadcasting.
For more April 25 birthdays, including Louis IX of France, Edward II of England and the world’s longest-serving soap opera star William Roach, check out OnThatDay.
The novelist Anthony Trollope was born at 6 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London on April 24, 1815. Anthony was a large, dirty boy with a large voice. He was unpopular and had no friends as he was thought to be uncouth and clumsy. Anthony was despised at school by both pupils and teachers taking repeated floggings. Because of his miserable school experiences, he took to daydreaming. Walking a mile walk to and from school young Trollope would be lost in his elaborate inner worlds.
Barbra Streisand was born Barbara Joan Streisand to Jewish parents on April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. She changed her name to Barbra when she was 18-years-old as she wanted to be unique, but didn't want to change her name completely. At Erasmus Hall High School she sang in the school choir alongside Neil Diamond. The pair teamed up again in 1978 for the smash hit "You Don't Bring Me Flowers."
The artist Stephen Wiltshire was born April 24, 1974. An autistic savant, Wiltshire draws detailed landscapes from memory. A 250-foot (76 m) long panoramic memory drawing of New York is on display at JFK Airport. He was appointed an MBE in 2006 and in the same year, he opened a permanent gallery on the Royal Opera Arcade in London.
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector after the English Civil War, was born on April 25, 1599. He was the only son of a small but well to do landowner, Robert Cromwell, who died in 1617. He was related to Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's ministers.
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A 1656 Samuel Cooper portrait of Cromwell |
A talented soldier, Cromwell was largely responsible for the parliamentary successes over Charles I during the English Civil War. Although at first he sought a reconciliation with the king, he eventually signed Charles' death warrant. The unconstitutional uncertainty that followed finally compelled Cromwell to assume the office of Lord Protector.
Guglielmo Marconi, known for his work on long distance radio transmission, was born into the Italian nobility in Bologna on April 25, 1874. Due to his father's dislike of his immature hobby of Morse code, the 10-year-old Giuseppe set up a laboratory in the attic, among his mother's trays of silkworms. He fiddled around with his early electrical transmitters, making his signals travel further and further. He had no idea they would lead to broadcasting.
For more April 25 birthdays, including Louis IX of France, Edward II of England and the world’s longest-serving soap opera star William Roach, check out OnThatDay.
The novelist Anthony Trollope was born at 6 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London on April 24, 1815. Anthony was a large, dirty boy with a large voice. He was unpopular and had no friends as he was thought to be uncouth and clumsy. Anthony was despised at school by both pupils and teachers taking repeated floggings. Because of his miserable school experiences, he took to daydreaming. Walking a mile walk to and from school young Trollope would be lost in his elaborate inner worlds.
Barbra Streisand was born Barbara Joan Streisand to Jewish parents on April 24, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York. She changed her name to Barbra when she was 18-years-old as she wanted to be unique, but didn't want to change her name completely. At Erasmus Hall High School she sang in the school choir alongside Neil Diamond. The pair teamed up again in 1978 for the smash hit "You Don't Bring Me Flowers."
The artist Stephen Wiltshire was born April 24, 1974. An autistic savant, Wiltshire draws detailed landscapes from memory. A 250-foot (76 m) long panoramic memory drawing of New York is on display at JFK Airport. He was appointed an MBE in 2006 and in the same year, he opened a permanent gallery on the Royal Opera Arcade in London.
For more April 24 anniversaries, including the debut of the first regular newspaper in North America, the first man to sail single-handedly around the world, and the birth of the first cloned dog, check out OnThatDay.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Henley Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, to John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover (glove-maker) and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning family. His date of birth is unknown, but is traditionally observed on April 23, Saint George's Day. An actor and playwright, Shakespeare's own acting abilities were not great, and he was fortunate to have other actors of stature to create such roles as Hamlet and Lear. Shakespeare's plays are known and performed in every country of the world, and he is considered the greatest of playwrights.
The English romantic painter Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on April 23, 1775 in Maiden Lane, an alley, north of the Strand in London. Joseph's father William Turner was a wig-maker who later became a Covent Garden barber. He first expressed an interest in painting around the age of 10. Soon Joseph was creating many paintings, which his father exhibited in his barber shop window.
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Henley Street, Stratford-Upon-Avon, to John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover (glove-maker) and Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning family. His date of birth is unknown, but is traditionally observed on April 23, Saint George's Day. An actor and playwright, Shakespeare's own acting abilities were not great, and he was fortunate to have other actors of stature to create such roles as Hamlet and Lear. Shakespeare's plays are known and performed in every country of the world, and he is considered the greatest of playwrights.
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William Shakespeare |
The English romantic painter Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on April 23, 1775 in Maiden Lane, an alley, north of the Strand in London. Joseph's father William Turner was a wig-maker who later became a Covent Garden barber. He first expressed an interest in painting around the age of 10. Soon Joseph was creating many paintings, which his father exhibited in his barber shop window.
Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California, the third child of homemaker Gertrude Temple and bank worker George Temple. The 1934 comedy drama movie Bright Eyes was the first film to be written and developed specifically for Shirley Temple, and the first in which her name was raised above the title. The movie featured her singing her best known musical number, "On the Good Ship Lollipop."
For more April 23 anniversaries, including the founding of the first public school in the United States, the first confirmed men to set foot at the Geographic North Pole, and the marriage of C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham, check out OnThatDay.
Vladimir "Volodya" Ilych Ulyanov was born on April 22, 1870 in the Russian city of Simbirsk (renamed Ulyanovsk in 1924) on the Volga. He adopted the name of Lenin in December 1901 to hide his identity from the police, possibly taking the River Lena as a basis. The Premier of Russia and later the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, under his administration his country became a one-party socialist state governed by the Soviet Communist Party.
For more April 22 anniversaries, including the first appearance of roller skates, the Oklahoma Land Run, and the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, check out OnThatDay.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on April 21, 1816. She was bought up by her clergyman father, Patrick. Charlotte had four sisters including Emily who wrote Wuthering Heights and Anne who wrote Agnes Grey. She acted as "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters." At school, Charlotte's English was considered indifferent. There was no indication that she would ever write a novel, let alone one as successful as Jane Eyre.
Queen Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary at 2.40 am (GMT) on April 21, 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. She was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth), the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon. She was named after her mother. The house in which she was born is now a fancy Cantonese restaurant called Hakkasan.
Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays: one on her actual date of birth, April 21, and one on the second Saturday in June, because April weather is too cold for a parade in the UK.
For more April 21 anniversaries, including the founding of Bangkok, the Battle of San Jacinto, the founding of The New York Times and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy, check out OnThatDay.
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire.
For more April 23 anniversaries, including the founding of the first public school in the United States, the first confirmed men to set foot at the Geographic North Pole, and the marriage of C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham, check out OnThatDay.
Vladimir "Volodya" Ilych Ulyanov was born on April 22, 1870 in the Russian city of Simbirsk (renamed Ulyanovsk in 1924) on the Volga. He adopted the name of Lenin in December 1901 to hide his identity from the police, possibly taking the River Lena as a basis. The Premier of Russia and later the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924, under his administration his country became a one-party socialist state governed by the Soviet Communist Party.
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Vladimir aged 4 |
For more April 22 anniversaries, including the first appearance of roller skates, the Oklahoma Land Run, and the first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, check out OnThatDay.
Charlotte Brontë was born in Thornton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on April 21, 1816. She was bought up by her clergyman father, Patrick. Charlotte had four sisters including Emily who wrote Wuthering Heights and Anne who wrote Agnes Grey. She acted as "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters." At school, Charlotte's English was considered indifferent. There was no indication that she would ever write a novel, let alone one as successful as Jane Eyre.
Queen Elizabeth II was born Elizabeth Alexandra Mary at 2.40 am (GMT) on April 21, 1926 at her maternal grandfather's London house: 17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. She was the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth), the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon. She was named after her mother. The house in which she was born is now a fancy Cantonese restaurant called Hakkasan.
Queen Elizabeth II had two birthdays: one on her actual date of birth, April 21, and one on the second Saturday in June, because April weather is too cold for a parade in the UK.
For more April 21 anniversaries, including the founding of Bangkok, the Battle of San Jacinto, the founding of The New York Times and the release of Nintendo's Game Boy, check out OnThatDay.
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire.
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Adolf Hitler as an infant (c. 1889–90) |
He was the fourth of six children of Alois Hitler (1837–1903), a petty clerk in the Austrian Customs Service, and Klara Pölzl, Alois' niece and third wife. Klara was a simple uneducated Bavarian girl. Their marriage was not a happy one.
A stone monument erected near the birthplace of Hitler in 1989 bears the lines "For Peace, Freedom & Democracy-Never Again Fascism-millions of dead are a warning."
For more April 20 anniversaries, including the creation of Wisconsin Territory, Chicago Cubs playing their first game at Wrigley Park, and orange juice becoming the official state beverage of Florida, check out OnThatDay.
A Japanese man, Jiroemon Kimura, was born on April 19, 1897. He died 116 years and 54 days later, having become the first man to indisputably reach 116 years of age.
Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, later known as Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of April 19-20, 1808. His father was Louis Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was Louis the King of Holland 1806 -1810. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleon's wife Joséphine de Beauharnais. Charles-Louis attended the gymnasium school at Augsburg, Bavaria. As a result, his French had a slight but noticeable German accent.
For more April 19 anniversaries, including the establishment of Belgium as a kingdom, the first bloodshed of the American Civil War, and the death of Pierre Curie in a street accident, check out OnThatDay.
James McCune Smith was born on April 18, 1813. The first African-American doctor, he was rejected from all American colleges and had to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1837. Smith returned to New York City in 1837 and established his practice in Lower Manhattan in general surgery and medicine, treating both black and white patients.
The writer George Henry Lewes was born in London on April 18, 1817. He was the illegitimate son of the minor poet John Lee Lewes and Elizabeth Ashweek. Lewes was unattractive with a straggly mustache, pitted complexion and a head too large for his small body. In 1851 Lewes met the writer Marian Evans, later to be famous as George Eliot. Within three years, with a scandalous disregard of the conventions of their time, had decided to live together.
For more April 18 anniversaries, including the first anti-slavery petition in the New World, Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the colonial militia of the approach of British troops, and the debut of Superman, check out OnThatDay
Spanish ventriloquist Señor Wences was born on April 17, 1896. His popularity grew with his frequent appearances on CBS-TV's The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s and 1960s. He was still working in his 90s and in 1986, Wences made a guest appearance on The Garry Shandling Show.
For more April 17 anniversaries, including the formation of the English Football League, the first woman to fly solo around the world, and the Khmer Rouge taking over Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, check out OnThatDay.
Wilbur Wright was born near Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867. He was the older of the two flight pioneering Wright Brothers and had four other siblings. Wilbur first developed his interest in aviation during three years of reclusiveness after being badly injured in an ice hockey game, when another player's stick hit him in the face. He lost his two front teeth in the accident. The player who knocked his teeth out, Oliver Cook Haugh, grew up to become a notorious Midwest serial killer.
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin was born to Hannah Chaplin (née Hill) and Charles Chaplin, Sr on April 16, 1889. His parents were both music hall entertainers.
Klara Hitler lost three children in infancy before Adolf was born. She was seriously considering an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor. Klara was constantly fearful of Adolf's death and constantly pinned all her hopes on him.
Young Adolf wanted to become an artist, but after being was rejected twice by the Academy of Arts in Vienna (1907 and 1908) for "lack of talent", which he resented deeply, he didn't try to find a different job or learn a profession.
Young Adolf wanted to become an artist, but after being was rejected twice by the Academy of Arts in Vienna (1907 and 1908) for "lack of talent", which he resented deeply, he didn't try to find a different job or learn a profession.
A stone monument erected near the birthplace of Hitler in 1989 bears the lines "For Peace, Freedom & Democracy-Never Again Fascism-millions of dead are a warning."
For more April 20 anniversaries, including the creation of Wisconsin Territory, Chicago Cubs playing their first game at Wrigley Park, and orange juice becoming the official state beverage of Florida, check out OnThatDay.
A Japanese man, Jiroemon Kimura, was born on April 19, 1897. He died 116 years and 54 days later, having become the first man to indisputably reach 116 years of age.
Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, later known as Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of April 19-20, 1808. His father was Louis Bonaparte, the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was Louis the King of Holland 1806 -1810. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleon's wife Joséphine de Beauharnais. Charles-Louis attended the gymnasium school at Augsburg, Bavaria. As a result, his French had a slight but noticeable German accent.
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Franz Xaver Winterhalter Napoleon III |
For more April 19 anniversaries, including the establishment of Belgium as a kingdom, the first bloodshed of the American Civil War, and the death of Pierre Curie in a street accident, check out OnThatDay.
James McCune Smith was born on April 18, 1813. The first African-American doctor, he was rejected from all American colleges and had to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1837. Smith returned to New York City in 1837 and established his practice in Lower Manhattan in general surgery and medicine, treating both black and white patients.
The writer George Henry Lewes was born in London on April 18, 1817. He was the illegitimate son of the minor poet John Lee Lewes and Elizabeth Ashweek. Lewes was unattractive with a straggly mustache, pitted complexion and a head too large for his small body. In 1851 Lewes met the writer Marian Evans, later to be famous as George Eliot. Within three years, with a scandalous disregard of the conventions of their time, had decided to live together.
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George Henry Lewes |
For more April 18 anniversaries, including the first anti-slavery petition in the New World, Paul Revere's midnight ride to warn the colonial militia of the approach of British troops, and the debut of Superman, check out OnThatDay
Spanish ventriloquist Señor Wences was born on April 17, 1896. His popularity grew with his frequent appearances on CBS-TV's The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s and 1960s. He was still working in his 90s and in 1986, Wences made a guest appearance on The Garry Shandling Show.
For more April 17 anniversaries, including the formation of the English Football League, the first woman to fly solo around the world, and the Khmer Rouge taking over Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, check out OnThatDay.
Wilbur Wright was born near Millville, Indiana, on April 16, 1867. He was the older of the two flight pioneering Wright Brothers and had four other siblings. Wilbur first developed his interest in aviation during three years of reclusiveness after being badly injured in an ice hockey game, when another player's stick hit him in the face. He lost his two front teeth in the accident. The player who knocked his teeth out, Oliver Cook Haugh, grew up to become a notorious Midwest serial killer.
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin was born to Hannah Chaplin (née Hill) and Charles Chaplin, Sr on April 16, 1889. His parents were both music hall entertainers.
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Charlie Chaplin |
When Chaplin turned eighteen, he was awarded the lead in a comedy play for Fred Karno and the Karno Troupe. Two years later whilst touring America with the Karno Troupe, Chaplin’s character of the English drunk caught the eye of Mack Sennett, the head of Keystone Studios. Chaplin took up the offer of a contract with the New York Motion Picture Co. at $150 per week to join the Keystone Studios in Los Angeles.
Charlie Chaplin became the highest-paid film star in the world when he signed a contract with Mutual Film Corporation for $675,000 a year on April 6, 1916. He made 82 movies over a career that spanned 50 years.
For more April 16 anniversaries, including the founding of the Franciscan Order, Lenin's return to Russia from exile in Switzerland, and the creation of the Bloody Mary cocktail, check out OnThatDay.
Poet and mystic Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism and a revered figure in Indian history, was born on April 15, 1469, in Talwandi, now known as Nankana Sahib, in present-day Pakistan. He is celebrated as the first of the ten Sikh gurus and is remembered for his teachings on equality, service, and devotion to God. His birthday is celebrated by Sikhs around the world as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar.
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath, was born on April 15, 1452, in the town of Vinci, in the Tuscan region of Italy. He is widely considered to be one of the most brilliant and versatile minds in human history, and his achievements in fields such as painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, and science continue to inspire people around the world today. Some of his most famous works include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and Vitruvian Man.
Joe Davis, one of the greatest snooker players of all time, was born on April 15, 1901, in Whitwell, Derbyshire, England. He is credited with popularizing the game of snooker and played a major role in establishing it as a professional sport. Davis won the first 15 World Snooker Championships held between 1927 and 1946, and his record of winning 15 world titles remains unbeaten. He was also a talented billiards player and won the World Billiards Championship four times.
For more April 15 anniversaries, including The Watermelon War, Jackie Robinson's debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line, and the opening of the first McDonald's franchise, check out OnThatDay
Dutch physicist, mathematician, and astronomer Christiaan Huygens was born on April 14, 1629 in The Hague, into a rich and influential Dutch family, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in optics developing a simple 2-lens ocular system that was achromatically corrected, and therefore a huge step forward in microscope development. He also propounded the wave theory of light, which he described in 1690 in his Traite de la Lumiere.
As an astronomer, Huygens is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, his friend Galileo's work enabled him to construct the first pendulum clock in 1656 and he also he improved the design of telescopes.
Charlie Chaplin became the highest-paid film star in the world when he signed a contract with Mutual Film Corporation for $675,000 a year on April 6, 1916. He made 82 movies over a career that spanned 50 years.
For more April 16 anniversaries, including the founding of the Franciscan Order, Lenin's return to Russia from exile in Switzerland, and the creation of the Bloody Mary cocktail, check out OnThatDay.
Poet and mystic Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism and a revered figure in Indian history, was born on April 15, 1469, in Talwandi, now known as Nankana Sahib, in present-day Pakistan. He is celebrated as the first of the ten Sikh gurus and is remembered for his teachings on equality, service, and devotion to God. His birthday is celebrated by Sikhs around the world as Guru Nanak Gurpurab, one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar.
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath, was born on April 15, 1452, in the town of Vinci, in the Tuscan region of Italy. He is widely considered to be one of the most brilliant and versatile minds in human history, and his achievements in fields such as painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, and science continue to inspire people around the world today. Some of his most famous works include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and Vitruvian Man.
The portrait below attributed to Francesco Melzi, c. 1515–1518, is the only certain contemporary depiction of Leonardo.
Joe Davis, one of the greatest snooker players of all time, was born on April 15, 1901, in Whitwell, Derbyshire, England. He is credited with popularizing the game of snooker and played a major role in establishing it as a professional sport. Davis won the first 15 World Snooker Championships held between 1927 and 1946, and his record of winning 15 world titles remains unbeaten. He was also a talented billiards player and won the World Billiards Championship four times.
For more April 15 anniversaries, including The Watermelon War, Jackie Robinson's debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line, and the opening of the first McDonald's franchise, check out OnThatDay
Dutch physicist, mathematician, and astronomer Christiaan Huygens was born on April 14, 1629 in The Hague, into a rich and influential Dutch family, Huygens made groundbreaking contributions in optics developing a simple 2-lens ocular system that was achromatically corrected, and therefore a huge step forward in microscope development. He also propounded the wave theory of light, which he described in 1690 in his Traite de la Lumiere.
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Christiaan Huygens by Caspar Netscher, |
As an astronomer, Huygens is chiefly known for his studies of the rings of Saturn and the discovery of its moon Titan. As an inventor, his friend Galileo's work enabled him to construct the first pendulum clock in 1656 and he also he improved the design of telescopes.
For more April 14 anniversaries, including the publication of John Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath, the opening of the first ever commercial motion picture house, and the abduction of 276 schoolgirls by Islamists Boko Haram, check out OnThatDay.
The third of ten children, most of whom died early in life, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at the family home, a one and a half story farmhouse in Shadwell, Albermarle County, Virginia. Jefferson's father, Colonel Peter Jefferson, was a land surveyor who was one of the surveyors who laid out the virginal North Carolina border. Young Thomas liked to hunt deer and turkeys along the Rivanna River with his father or go for long walks in the mountains.
A lawyer by training, Jefferson began his political career in the Virginian Houses of Burgesses, and went on to serve as governor of Virginia (1779-81), minister to France (1785-89), secretary of state (1789-93), and vice president (1797-1801) under John Adams. As the 3rd president of the United States (1801-09), Jefferson's greatest achievement was probably the Louisiana Purchase, by which the United States gained extensive territories ceded to France by Spain.
For more April 13 birthdays, including French queen Catherine de' Medici, The Gunpowder Plot's Guy Fawkes, the criminal Butch Cassidy, Irish writer Samuel Beckett and African politician Julius Nyerere, check out OnThatDay.
American author Tom Clancy was born on April 12, 1947, at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to Catherine Clancy and U.S. Postal Service worker, Thomas Clancy. Originally an insurance agent, his literary career began in 1984 when he sold his first military thriller book, The Hunt for Red October. Due to the limited technology of the 1980s, the novel had to be saved on ten floppy disks.
The third of ten children, most of whom died early in life, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 at the family home, a one and a half story farmhouse in Shadwell, Albermarle County, Virginia. Jefferson's father, Colonel Peter Jefferson, was a land surveyor who was one of the surveyors who laid out the virginal North Carolina border. Young Thomas liked to hunt deer and turkeys along the Rivanna River with his father or go for long walks in the mountains.
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Portrait of Thomas Jefferson while in London in 1786 at 43 by Mather Brown |
A lawyer by training, Jefferson began his political career in the Virginian Houses of Burgesses, and went on to serve as governor of Virginia (1779-81), minister to France (1785-89), secretary of state (1789-93), and vice president (1797-1801) under John Adams. As the 3rd president of the United States (1801-09), Jefferson's greatest achievement was probably the Louisiana Purchase, by which the United States gained extensive territories ceded to France by Spain.
For more April 13 birthdays, including French queen Catherine de' Medici, The Gunpowder Plot's Guy Fawkes, the criminal Butch Cassidy, Irish writer Samuel Beckett and African politician Julius Nyerere, check out OnThatDay.
American author Tom Clancy was born on April 12, 1947, at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland to Catherine Clancy and U.S. Postal Service worker, Thomas Clancy. Originally an insurance agent, his literary career began in 1984 when he sold his first military thriller book, The Hunt for Red October. Due to the limited technology of the 1980s, the novel had to be saved on ten floppy disks.
Clancy became one of America's best selling novelists renowned for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. His best known works, including The Hunt for Red October (1984), Patriot Games (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1989), and The Sum of All Fears (1991), have been adapted into successful screenplays.
For more April 12 anniversaries, including the commencement of the American Civil War, the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the recording of Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", check out OnThatDay.
James Parkinson was born April 11, 1755 in Shoreditch, London. He is best known for his 1817 essay An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in which he was the first to describe the condition "paralysis agitans." His recommended treatment was applications of mustard plaster to the back of the neck. In 1876 French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot renamed it Parkinson’s disease.
James Parkinson was born April 11, 1755 in Shoreditch, London. He is best known for his 1817 essay An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in which he was the first to describe the condition "paralysis agitans." His recommended treatment was applications of mustard plaster to the back of the neck. In 1876 French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot renamed it Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson was also a noted paleontologist with one of the largest fossil collections in the world. He was one of the first to suggest that fossils were the remains of ancient extinct creatures.
For more April 11 anniversaries, including the founding of Ten Aviv, the most boring day of the 20th century, and the marriage of Roger Federer to Mirka Vavrinec, check out OnThatDay
German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, was born on April 10, 1755. After testing various substances especially herbal remedies, Hahnemann concluded that a drug, which produces symptoms of a particular illness in a healthy person, would cure a sick person who is suffering from the said affliction. This would only work, however if that drug was dispensed in particularly small doses. Hahnemann began practicing his new method of medicine, called homeopathy, in 1796.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was born on April 10, 1829. He was the only son of four surviving children born to Samuel Booth and Mary Moss in Sneinton, Nottingham, England. A "careless" lad up to the age of 15, after a bad illness, Booth's spirit became awakened and he joined a Wesleyan chapel. Inspired by a hellfire preacher from USA, he was converted to Methodism. Training himself in writing and in speech, he became a Methodist lay preacher.
The fifth child of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Bulloch "Archie" Roosevelt born on April 10, 1894. Archie Roosevelt was a distinguished U.S. Army officer and commander of U.S. forces in both World War I and II. After World War II, he became a successful businessman and the founder of a New York City bond brokerage house, as well as a spokesman for conservative political causes.
German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, was born on April 10, 1755. After testing various substances especially herbal remedies, Hahnemann concluded that a drug, which produces symptoms of a particular illness in a healthy person, would cure a sick person who is suffering from the said affliction. This would only work, however if that drug was dispensed in particularly small doses. Hahnemann began practicing his new method of medicine, called homeopathy, in 1796.
William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was born on April 10, 1829. He was the only son of four surviving children born to Samuel Booth and Mary Moss in Sneinton, Nottingham, England. A "careless" lad up to the age of 15, after a bad illness, Booth's spirit became awakened and he joined a Wesleyan chapel. Inspired by a hellfire preacher from USA, he was converted to Methodism. Training himself in writing and in speech, he became a Methodist lay preacher.
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William Booth in 1862 |
The fifth child of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Archibald Bulloch "Archie" Roosevelt born on April 10, 1894. Archie Roosevelt was a distinguished U.S. Army officer and commander of U.S. forces in both World War I and II. After World War II, he became a successful businessman and the founder of a New York City bond brokerage house, as well as a spokesman for conservative political causes.
For more April 10 anniversaries, including the Battle of Mollwitz, the invention of the safety pin and the publication of F Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, check out OnThatDay.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain's most influential 19th century engineer, was born on April 9, 1806 in Britan Street, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, where his father was working on block-making machinery. He made major contributions in ship-building and bridge construction. Brunel customarily worked an 18-hour day, sleeping at the office, rising at 4am. Only five foot tall, because of his small size Brunel always wore a reinforced top hat to make himself look taller.
For more April 9 anniversaries, including the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, the birth of Pentecostalism in Los Angeles and the marriage of Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles check out OnThatDay.
Italian cavalry officer and equestrian Captain Federico Caprilli was born on April 8, 1868. He heavily influenced the world of show jumping with his ideas promoting a forward position with shorter stirrups. This style, now known as the forward seat, placed the rider in a position that did not interfere with the balance of the horse while negotiating obstacles. Riders came from countries around the world to study Caprilli's system.
For more April 8 anniversaries, including the discovery of the ancient Greek Venus de Milo statue. the introduction of the first purpose-made milk bottles and Hank Aaron hitting his record breaking 715th career home run, check out OnThatDay.
The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was born on April 7, 1506 in the royal castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre. In 1541 Francis Xavier was commissioned by King John III of Portugal to preach the Christian faith in the Portuguese colonies in the East, thus marking the beginning of the Jesuit missions. He was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India and Japan.
The poet William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in NW England. A volatile child, on one occasion on suffering an indignity, William went up to the attic intending to kill himself with a fencing sword. In 1778, William's father sent him as a boarder to Hawkshead Grammar School in Cumbria. It as there that William fell in love with countryside and nature and began to write poetry.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia on April 7, 1915. At the time of her birth, her mother, Sadie Fagan was just 13. It is thought her father was Clarence Holiday, who abandoned Sadie when Billie was an infant to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. She started singing in the early 1930s in Harlem, New York City, for tips in night clubs. Holiday took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and her probable musician father.
For more April 7 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies. the introduction of the first friction matches and the debut of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, check out OnThatDay.
American molecular biologist and zoologist James Watson was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 6, 1928. Educated at the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson met British scientist Francis Crick at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England. In mid-March 1953, Watson and Crick deduced the double helix structure of DNA. Their discovery was formally announced the next month in Nature magazine.
For more April 6 anniversaries, including the founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the longest recorded gloved boxing match and Charlie Chaplin becoming the highest-paid film star in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Joseph Lister, the 'Father of Antiseptic Surgery' was born on April 5, 1827. He came from a prosperous Quaker home in West Ham, Essex, England. His father, Joseph Jackson Lister, was a very successful wine merchant and amateur scientist. Joseph Jackson Lister’s design of a microscope lens which did not distort colors opened the way for the microscope to be used as a serious scientific tool.
Bette Davis was born at 55 Cedar Street, Lowell, Massachusetts on April 5, 1908. She was born Ruth Elizabeth Davis, but was known from early childhood as "Betty," In 1926 Davis saw a production of The Wild Duck, with well known Broadway actress Peg Entwistle, which inspired her to seriously pursue acting. One of her classmates at John Murray Anderson's Dramatic School in New York was Lucille Ball.
Gregory Peck was born Eldred Gregory Peck on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla, San Diego, California, the son of Gregory Pearl Peck, a New York-born chemist and pharmacist, and his Missouri-born wife Bernice Mary "Bunny" (née Ayres). He strongly disliked his first name of Eldred, a name his mother insisted on giving him because she felt it was distinct and would distinguish him with its uniqueness. Peck dropped the Eldred after graduating from university.
For more April 5 anniversaries, including the marriage of the Native American princess Pocahontas to the settler John Rolfe, the first operation to remove a lung, and Kurt Cobain's suicide, check out OnThatDay.
English sculptor and wood carver Grinling Gibbons was born on April 4, 1648. Widely regarded as the finest-ever woodcarver working in England, most of his work was in lime wood, especially decorative Baroque garlands made up of still-life elements at about life size, made to frame mirrors and decorate the walls of churches and palaces. His exquisite cascades of leaves, flowers and fruit adorn Hampton Park Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and countless other stately homes and churches.
Mental health activist Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in the town of Hampden, Maine and spent most of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her alcoholic, itinerant worker father Joseph was frequently away from home, but he did foster Dorothea’s lifelong love of books and learning. The thoughtless confinement of mentally ill persons in cells with criminals disturbed her deeply, Through her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, special hospitals for mental patients were built in more than 15 states and the movement spread to Canada and Europe.
James Blyth, inventor of the wind turbine, was born on April 4, 1839 in Marykirk, Scotland. In July 1887 he built a cloth-sailed wind turbine in the garden of his holiday home in Marykirk and used the electricity it produced to charge accumulators; the stored electricity was used to power the lights in his cottage, which thus became the first house in the world to be powered by wind-generated electricity.
For more April 4 anniversaries, including the first Russian reference to Moscow, the staging of the first modern circus and the founding of Microsoft, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Marlon Brando was born on April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). Marlon Brando was expelled from two different high schools—the first expulsion was for allegedly riding a motorcycle down the hallway.
For more April 3 anniversaries, including the coronation of the English king, Edward The Confessor, the beginning of the Pony Express mail service, and the first book sold on Amazon, check out OnThatDay.
The warrior chief Charlemagne, Charles 1st the Great, was born on April 2, 742 to Pepin the Short and Bertha of the Big Foot. He became King of the Franks in 768 after the death of his father and was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800. At his death Charlemagne's kingdom extended from South Italy and Pyrenees to Bohemia.
For more April 2 anniversaries, including The Battle of Copenhagen, the marriage of Charles Dickens to Catherine "Kate" Hogarth, and the opening of the first full-time movie theater in the United States check out OnThatDay.
William Harvey, the first to describe blood circulation, was born in the Kentish coastal town of Folkestone on April 1, 1578. He was the eldest of seven brothers and two sisters. Harvey enrolled in the University of Padua in 1599, where he studied under Fabrizio d’Acquapendente, who was the first person to clearly describe the valves in the veins. Galileo was a Professor during Harvey's time there.
Otto Von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of the German Empire, was born on his family estate at Schönhausen, a village on the Elbe, North West of Berlin, on April 1, 1815. His father, Ferdinand Von Bismarck, was a landowner and a former Prussian military officer; his mother, Wilhelmine Mencken, originally belonged to a prosperous bourgeois family. A very mischievous child, as a youth Otto was an indefatigable duellist. He was known as the mad Junker.
The dwarf George Nutt was born on April 1, 1848. Nutt was touring New England with a circus when P. T. Barnum hired him to appear at the American Museum in New York City. Barnum gave Nutt the stage name Commodore Nutt, a wardrobe that included naval uniforms, and a miniature carriage in the shape of an English walnut. Nutt became one of the Museum's major attractions.
For more April 1 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
Influential French mathematician and 'father of modern philosophy' René Descartes was born at the farmhouse of his great grandma on March 31, 1596. It was located in La Haye en Touraine, a small town in the Indre-et-Loire, now named after him – Descartes. His father Joachim Descartes, was a prominent councillor in the parliament of Rennes. He belonged to a family that had produced a number of learned men.
The German composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an office akin to village mayor When he was 7 Joseph entered the choir school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He had no formal musical training until his late teens, when he worked with the Italian Niccolo Porpora.
For more March 31 anniversaries, including the opening of the Eiffel Tower, the marriage of Anne Hyde to the future James II of England, and the founding of the oldest independent air force in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a village close to Breda, in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands. He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. Vincent was given the name of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth. He felt unwanted as a child feeling he was a substitute for the other Vincent who his parents had tragically lost.
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was born on March 30, 1926. He first started selling matchboxes as a child, before selling fountain pens, cigarette lighters and nylon stockings. The then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as a mostly mail-order sales business, selling replicas of his uncle's kitchen table. The company's name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm in south Sweden on which grew up and Agunnaryd, the nearby village.
Rock guitarist Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey on March 30, 1945. He was the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer, who returned to his wife in Canada before he was born and his 16-year-old mother Patricia Molly Clapton. Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents Rose and Jack Clapp believing that his mother was his sister.
For more March 30 anniversaries, including the first ever operation on a patient using ether anesthesia, the patenting of the all-in-one pencil eraser and United States purchase of Alaska, check out OnThatDay.
Santorio Santorii was born on March 29, 1561. The Venetian physiologist, physician, and professor was the first person to accurately measure the pulse rate and also invented the pulsilogium, a form of pendulum, based on the work by Galileo Galilei. The pulsilogium was probably the first machine of precision in medical history. Extensive experimentation with his new tool allowed Santorio to derive the circadian rhythm (24 hour cycle) of the cardiac frequency.
John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, was born on March 29, 1790 at Greenway Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia, U.S. He was born the same day as his future running mate, William Henry Harrison. John was reared with his two brothers and five sisters, on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre (5 km2) estate with a six-room manor house his father had built.
For more March 29 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
The first English child born in Canada came into this world at London and Bristol Company's Cuper's Cove, colony in Newfoundland on March 27, 1613. The father, Nicholas Guy (fl. 1612 – 1631), was a member of the first group of settlers to journey to Newfoundland for colonization. In the winter of 1612 - 1613 there were sixty-two people were living in the colony.
French veterinary surgeon Claude de Bourgelat was born on March 27, 1712. When a disease called rinderpest decimated herds of European cattle, colleges of veterinary medicine began to arise in Europe and, later, elsewhere. The world's first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France in 1762 by Claude Bourgelat
The architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born as Maria Ludwig Michael Mies on March 27, 1886, the son of a stonemason, in Aachen, Germany. After The First World War, as a young architect and designer in Berlin, Mies foreshadowed modern architecture with innovative designs for tubular-steel furniture (the cantilevered Barcelona chair (1929)) and steel and glass skyscrapers which demonstrated his interest in technological innovation and beautiful form.
For more March 27 anniversaries, including the inscription of the Ancient Egyptian Rosetta Stone, Juan Ponce de León reaching the northern end of The Bahamas, and the first international rugby football match, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Leonard Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, to immigrants from Iziaslav, Ukraine. He is best known for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise, a character he portrayed in television and film for almost fifty years. Spock's famous Vulcan salute, ‘Live long and prosper', was inspired by a priestly blessing Leonard Nimroy saw as a child, when he attended a synagogue service with his father.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain's most influential 19th century engineer, was born on April 9, 1806 in Britan Street, Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, where his father was working on block-making machinery. He made major contributions in ship-building and bridge construction. Brunel customarily worked an 18-hour day, sleeping at the office, rising at 4am. Only five foot tall, because of his small size Brunel always wore a reinforced top hat to make himself look taller.
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Brunel by the launching chains of the SS Great Eastern |
For more April 9 anniversaries, including the oldest known recording of an audible human voice, the birth of Pentecostalism in Los Angeles and the marriage of Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles check out OnThatDay.
Italian cavalry officer and equestrian Captain Federico Caprilli was born on April 8, 1868. He heavily influenced the world of show jumping with his ideas promoting a forward position with shorter stirrups. This style, now known as the forward seat, placed the rider in a position that did not interfere with the balance of the horse while negotiating obstacles. Riders came from countries around the world to study Caprilli's system.
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Captain Federico Caprilli |
For more April 8 anniversaries, including the discovery of the ancient Greek Venus de Milo statue. the introduction of the first purpose-made milk bottles and Hank Aaron hitting his record breaking 715th career home run, check out OnThatDay.
The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier was born on April 7, 1506 in the royal castle of Xavier, near Sangüesa and Pamplona, in the Spanish kingdom of Navarre. In 1541 Francis Xavier was commissioned by King John III of Portugal to preach the Christian faith in the Portuguese colonies in the East, thus marking the beginning of the Jesuit missions. He was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India and Japan.
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The castle of the Xavier family By Jsanchezes, |
The poet William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770 in what is now named Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in NW England. A volatile child, on one occasion on suffering an indignity, William went up to the attic intending to kill himself with a fencing sword. In 1778, William's father sent him as a boarder to Hawkshead Grammar School in Cumbria. It as there that William fell in love with countryside and nature and began to write poetry.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in Philadelphia on April 7, 1915. At the time of her birth, her mother, Sadie Fagan was just 13. It is thought her father was Clarence Holiday, who abandoned Sadie when Billie was an infant to pursue a career as a jazz guitarist. She started singing in the early 1930s in Harlem, New York City, for tips in night clubs. Holiday took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and her probable musician father.
For more April 7 anniversaries, including the establishment of the first permanent American settlement outside the original Thirteen Colonies. the introduction of the first friction matches and the debut of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, check out OnThatDay.
American molecular biologist and zoologist James Watson was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 6, 1928. Educated at the University of Chicago and Indiana University, Watson met British scientist Francis Crick at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England. In mid-March 1953, Watson and Crick deduced the double helix structure of DNA. Their discovery was formally announced the next month in Nature magazine.
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Dr. James D. Watson |
For more April 6 anniversaries, including the founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the longest recorded gloved boxing match and Charlie Chaplin becoming the highest-paid film star in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Joseph Lister, the 'Father of Antiseptic Surgery' was born on April 5, 1827. He came from a prosperous Quaker home in West Ham, Essex, England. His father, Joseph Jackson Lister, was a very successful wine merchant and amateur scientist. Joseph Jackson Lister’s design of a microscope lens which did not distort colors opened the way for the microscope to be used as a serious scientific tool.
Gregory Peck was born Eldred Gregory Peck on April 5, 1916, in La Jolla, San Diego, California, the son of Gregory Pearl Peck, a New York-born chemist and pharmacist, and his Missouri-born wife Bernice Mary "Bunny" (née Ayres). He strongly disliked his first name of Eldred, a name his mother insisted on giving him because she felt it was distinct and would distinguish him with its uniqueness. Peck dropped the Eldred after graduating from university.
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Peck (right) with his father c. 1930 |
For more April 5 anniversaries, including the marriage of the Native American princess Pocahontas to the settler John Rolfe, the first operation to remove a lung, and Kurt Cobain's suicide, check out OnThatDay.
English sculptor and wood carver Grinling Gibbons was born on April 4, 1648. Widely regarded as the finest-ever woodcarver working in England, most of his work was in lime wood, especially decorative Baroque garlands made up of still-life elements at about life size, made to frame mirrors and decorate the walls of churches and palaces. His exquisite cascades of leaves, flowers and fruit adorn Hampton Park Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and countless other stately homes and churches.
Mental health activist Dorothea Dix was born on April 4, 1802 in the town of Hampden, Maine and spent most of her childhood in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her alcoholic, itinerant worker father Joseph was frequently away from home, but he did foster Dorothea’s lifelong love of books and learning. The thoughtless confinement of mentally ill persons in cells with criminals disturbed her deeply, Through her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, special hospitals for mental patients were built in more than 15 states and the movement spread to Canada and Europe.
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Dix circa 1850-55 |
James Blyth, inventor of the wind turbine, was born on April 4, 1839 in Marykirk, Scotland. In July 1887 he built a cloth-sailed wind turbine in the garden of his holiday home in Marykirk and used the electricity it produced to charge accumulators; the stored electricity was used to power the lights in his cottage, which thus became the first house in the world to be powered by wind-generated electricity.
For more April 4 anniversaries, including the first Russian reference to Moscow, the staging of the first modern circus and the founding of Microsoft, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Marlon Brando was born on April 3, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, to Marlon Brando, Sr., a pesticide and chemical feed manufacturer, and Dorothy Julia (née Pennebaker). Marlon Brando was expelled from two different high schools—the first expulsion was for allegedly riding a motorcycle down the hallway.
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Marlon Brando |
One of the greatest film actors in history, Brando initially gained acclaim for the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire. His other famous performances include playing dockworker Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront, the rebellious motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One, the head of the Corleone Mafia family Vito Corleone in The Godfather and rogue military cult leader Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
For more April 3 anniversaries, including the coronation of the English king, Edward The Confessor, the beginning of the Pony Express mail service, and the first book sold on Amazon, check out OnThatDay.
The warrior chief Charlemagne, Charles 1st the Great, was born on April 2, 742 to Pepin the Short and Bertha of the Big Foot. He became King of the Franks in 768 after the death of his father and was crowned the first Holy Roman Emperor in 800. At his death Charlemagne's kingdom extended from South Italy and Pyrenees to Bohemia.
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Mask reliquary of Charlemagne, located at Cathedral Treasury in Aachen. By Beckstet |
Hans Christian Andersen was born in the town of Odense, Denmark, on April 2, 1805. He was the only child of a poor young shoemaker, and a washerwoman. As a child, his favorite toy was a little homemade toy-theatre and young Hans sat at home making clothes for his wooden puppets, and reading all the plays that he could borrow. He had a retentive memory and was known to memorize entire Shakespeare plays and recite them using his puppets as the characters.
For more April 2 anniversaries, including The Battle of Copenhagen, the marriage of Charles Dickens to Catherine "Kate" Hogarth, and the opening of the first full-time movie theater in the United States check out OnThatDay.
William Harvey, the first to describe blood circulation, was born in the Kentish coastal town of Folkestone on April 1, 1578. He was the eldest of seven brothers and two sisters. Harvey enrolled in the University of Padua in 1599, where he studied under Fabrizio d’Acquapendente, who was the first person to clearly describe the valves in the veins. Galileo was a Professor during Harvey's time there.
Otto Von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of the German Empire, was born on his family estate at Schönhausen, a village on the Elbe, North West of Berlin, on April 1, 1815. His father, Ferdinand Von Bismarck, was a landowner and a former Prussian military officer; his mother, Wilhelmine Mencken, originally belonged to a prosperous bourgeois family. A very mischievous child, as a youth Otto was an indefatigable duellist. He was known as the mad Junker.
The dwarf George Nutt was born on April 1, 1848. Nutt was touring New England with a circus when P. T. Barnum hired him to appear at the American Museum in New York City. Barnum gave Nutt the stage name Commodore Nutt, a wardrobe that included naval uniforms, and a miniature carriage in the shape of an English walnut. Nutt became one of the Museum's major attractions.
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Commodore Nutt in uniform, ca. 1865 |
For more April 1 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
Influential French mathematician and 'father of modern philosophy' René Descartes was born at the farmhouse of his great grandma on March 31, 1596. It was located in La Haye en Touraine, a small town in the Indre-et-Loire, now named after him – Descartes. His father Joachim Descartes, was a prominent councillor in the parliament of Rennes. He belonged to a family that had produced a number of learned men.
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The house where Descartes was born in La Haye en Touraine |
The German composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732, in Rohrau, Austria. His father was Mathias Haydn, a wheelwright who also served as "Marktrichter", an office akin to village mayor When he was 7 Joseph entered the choir school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He had no formal musical training until his late teens, when he worked with the Italian Niccolo Porpora.
For more March 31 anniversaries, including the opening of the Eiffel Tower, the marriage of Anne Hyde to the future James II of England, and the founding of the oldest independent air force in the world, check out OnThatDay.
Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in Groot-Zundert, a village close to Breda, in the predominantly Catholic province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands. He was the oldest surviving child of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. Vincent was given the name of a brother stillborn exactly a year before his birth. He felt unwanted as a child feeling he was a substitute for the other Vincent who his parents had tragically lost.
IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad was born on March 30, 1926. He first started selling matchboxes as a child, before selling fountain pens, cigarette lighters and nylon stockings. The then-17-year-old Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA in 1943 as a mostly mail-order sales business, selling replicas of his uncle's kitchen table. The company's name is an acronym that consists of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, the farm in south Sweden on which grew up and Agunnaryd, the nearby village.
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The first Ikea store in Älmhult, Sweden. Photo by Christian Koehn |
Rock guitarist Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey on March 30, 1945. He was the illegitimate son of a Canadian soldier Edward Walter Fryer, who returned to his wife in Canada before he was born and his 16-year-old mother Patricia Molly Clapton. Clapton was brought up by his maternal grandparents Rose and Jack Clapp believing that his mother was his sister.
For more March 30 anniversaries, including the first ever operation on a patient using ether anesthesia, the patenting of the all-in-one pencil eraser and United States purchase of Alaska, check out OnThatDay.
Santorio Santorii was born on March 29, 1561. The Venetian physiologist, physician, and professor was the first person to accurately measure the pulse rate and also invented the pulsilogium, a form of pendulum, based on the work by Galileo Galilei. The pulsilogium was probably the first machine of precision in medical history. Extensive experimentation with his new tool allowed Santorio to derive the circadian rhythm (24 hour cycle) of the cardiac frequency.
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Sanctorio sitting in the balance that he made to calculate his net weight |
John Tyler, the tenth President of the United States, was born on March 29, 1790 at Greenway Plantation, Charles City County, Virginia, U.S. He was born the same day as his future running mate, William Henry Harrison. John was reared with his two brothers and five sisters, on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre (5 km2) estate with a six-room manor house his father had built.
For more March 29 anniversaries, including the patenting of the modern shoelace, the creation of Coca Cola and the marriage of Tony Blair to Cherie Booth, check out OnThatDay.
Saint Teresa of Avila was born in Avila, Spain on March 28, 1515. A revered Spanish mystic, author, and Carmelite reformer during the 16th century Counter-Reformation, she played a pivotal role in the Catholic Church's renewal movement, emphasizing personal religious experience. Saint Teresa was renowned for her insightful writings on prayer and contemplation, including her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus, and The Interior Castle. She was a significant figure in monastic reform, establishing the Discalced Carmelites, a stricter branch focused on a contemplative life.
Lady Gaga was born Stefani Germanotta on March 28, 1986. A highly influential American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and entrepreneur., she is renowned for her innovative and often theatrical approach to music and performance, with global hits like "Poker Face," "Bad Romance," and "Shallow."
For more March 28 anniversaries, including the invention of the first washing machine, Felix Mendelssohn's marriage to Cécile Jeanrenaud, and the lowest score by a team in international test cricket, check out On That Day.
The first English child born in Canada came into this world at London and Bristol Company's Cuper's Cove, colony in Newfoundland on March 27, 1613. The father, Nicholas Guy (fl. 1612 – 1631), was a member of the first group of settlers to journey to Newfoundland for colonization. In the winter of 1612 - 1613 there were sixty-two people were living in the colony.
French veterinary surgeon Claude de Bourgelat was born on March 27, 1712. When a disease called rinderpest decimated herds of European cattle, colleges of veterinary medicine began to arise in Europe and, later, elsewhere. The world's first veterinary school was founded in Lyon, France in 1762 by Claude Bourgelat
The architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born as Maria Ludwig Michael Mies on March 27, 1886, the son of a stonemason, in Aachen, Germany. After The First World War, as a young architect and designer in Berlin, Mies foreshadowed modern architecture with innovative designs for tubular-steel furniture (the cantilevered Barcelona chair (1929)) and steel and glass skyscrapers which demonstrated his interest in technological innovation and beautiful form.
For more March 27 anniversaries, including the inscription of the Ancient Egyptian Rosetta Stone, Juan Ponce de León reaching the northern end of The Bahamas, and the first international rugby football match, check out OnThatDay.
The actor Leonard Nimoy was born on March 26, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts, to immigrants from Iziaslav, Ukraine. He is best known for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise, a character he portrayed in television and film for almost fifty years. Spock's famous Vulcan salute, ‘Live long and prosper', was inspired by a priestly blessing Leonard Nimroy saw as a child, when he attended a synagogue service with his father.
Leka II, the only child of the pretender to Albania's throne, Crown Prince Leka I, was born in South Africa on March 26, 1982. The South African government declared his maternity ward temporarily Albanian territory to ensure that Leka was born on Albanian soil.
For more March 26 anniversaries, including the first use of the word "gerrymandering," the publication of Ian Fleming's James Bond story, Diamonds are Forever, and the first royal email, check out OnThatDay.
American agronomist Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914. In the 1970's, he developed a new strain of wheat that was heavily disease resistant and could grow in very arid conditions. Between 1965 and 1970, Pakistan, Mexico, and India more than doubled their food supplies. His initiatives worldwide are said to have saved a billion lives.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight, who served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and only child of Sheila Eileen (Harris). Reginald started playing the piano at the age of 3, and within a year, his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. He started formal piano lessons at the age of 7.
For more March 25 anniversaries, including the crowning of Robert The Bruce, the discovery of Saturn's largest moon, Titan and the invention of the "Phonautograph", the world's first record player, check out OnThatDay.
English Separatist theologian, natural philosopher, and chemist Joseph Priestley was born on March 24, 1733, to an established English Dissenting family in Fieldhead, Birstall, Yorkshire. After his mother died when Joseph went to live with his aunt. Because Joseph was precocious—at the age of four he could flawlessly recite all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism—his Calvinist aunt sought the best education for the boy, intending him for the ministry.
The blind American hymn writer Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in the village of Brewster, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. She was incredibly prolific, penning over 8,000 hymns, more than any other person. Fanny was once asked if she wished that she hadn't been born without sight. She replied the good thing about being born blind is she knew the first face she would see would be the face of Jesus.
English textile designer William Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on March 24, 1834. He was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. Educated at Marlborough College, William studied for holy orders at Oxford University, but renounced the Church, and changed to architecture.After his marriage in 1859, Morris began his career as a decorator.
Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz, and Cecília Weisz (née Steiner;). Erik arrived in the United States in 1878, on the SS Fresia with his family. At the age of fifteen, Ehrich discovered the autobiography of the greatest conjurer of the nineteenth century, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Ehrich was fascinated by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that the work sparked his enthusiasm for magic.
For more March 24 anniversaries, including Johann Sebastian Bach's dedication of The Brandenburg Concertos to the Count Brandenburg, the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, and the assassination of Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, check out OnThatDay.
German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was born on March 23, 1912. Among his designs were the V-2 ballistic missile used by Germany during World War II. Following World War II, Von Brann was secretly moved from Germany to the United States, where he helped develop the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1, and the Apollo program manned lunar landings.
Princess Eugenie of York, the second child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson was born on March 23 1990. She is tenth in line to the UK throne.
For more March 23 anniversaries, including the installation of the first passenger elevator, the publication of John Lennon's book, In His Own Write, and the outbreak of The Sierra Leone Civil War, check out OnThatDay.
French mime artist Marcel Marceau was born on March 22, 1923. He was most famous for his stage persona as "Bip the Clown," which he first played at the Théâtre de Poche in Paris in 1947. Marceau referred to mime as the "art of silence," and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. He was said to be single-handedly responsible for reviving the art of mime after World War II.
For more March 22 anniversaries, including the marriage of Gioachino Rossini to Spanish soprano Isabella Colbra, the first patent for a laser and Barbra Streisand's Broadway debut, check out OnThatDay.
Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685, the youngest of eight children. Johann was orphaned aged 10 and was raised by his eldest brother Johann Christoph Bach, the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. He attended the Gymnasium in Eisenach the same school that Martin Luther attended 200 years earlier.
Bach was acknowledged in Germany as the greatest organist of his time and esteemed as a specialist in the mechanics of organ building. However his contrapuntal (music that consists of two or more melodies played at the same time) style of writing sounded old fashioned to his contemporaries. Indeed his sons Carl Philip and Johann Christian Bach were more famous in their lifetime than their father.
For more March 21 anniversaries, including the Napoleonic Code coming into force, the first-ever Earth Day proclamation and the creation of Twitter, check out OnThatDay.
The Roman poetical writer Ovid was born in Sulmo (modern Sulmona), in an Apennine valley 90 miles east of Rome, to a wealthy family, on March 20, 43 BC. Ovid's full name was Publius Ovidius Naso. The cognomen Naso means "the one with the nose" (i.e. "Big nose") in Latin. Ovid habitually referred to himself by his nickname.
The Puritan poetess Anne Bradstreet was born on March 20, 1612. The first American female writer, her first volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was published in 1650. It was widely read in America and England.
For more March 20 anniversaries, including the founding of the Republican Party, the patenting of the modern zip and the marriage of John Lennon to Yoko Ono, check out OnThatDay.
David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 in a Glasgow worker's tenement in the mill town of Blantyre, Strathclyde, Scotland. Livingstone's father ran his own business as a door-to-door tea salesman, so the room was constantly fragrant with the smell of tea. At the age of 21, Livingstone was inspired to take up Theology and Medical studies after hearing an appeal by British and American Churches for medical missionaries to go to China. A pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, as an explorer in Africa, he was the first European to discover the waterfall that was later named Victoria Falls.
For more March 26 anniversaries, including the first use of the word "gerrymandering," the publication of Ian Fleming's James Bond story, Diamonds are Forever, and the first royal email, check out OnThatDay.
American agronomist Norman Borlaug was born on March 25, 1914. In the 1970's, he developed a new strain of wheat that was heavily disease resistant and could grow in very arid conditions. Between 1965 and 1970, Pakistan, Mexico, and India more than doubled their food supplies. His initiatives worldwide are said to have saved a billion lives.
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex, the eldest child of Stanley Dwight, who served as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force and only child of Sheila Eileen (Harris). Reginald started playing the piano at the age of 3, and within a year, his mother heard him picking out Winifred Atwell's "The Skater's Waltz" by ear. He started formal piano lessons at the age of 7.
For more March 25 anniversaries, including the crowning of Robert The Bruce, the discovery of Saturn's largest moon, Titan and the invention of the "Phonautograph", the world's first record player, check out OnThatDay.
English Separatist theologian, natural philosopher, and chemist Joseph Priestley was born on March 24, 1733, to an established English Dissenting family in Fieldhead, Birstall, Yorkshire. After his mother died when Joseph went to live with his aunt. Because Joseph was precocious—at the age of four he could flawlessly recite all 107 questions and answers of the Westminster Shorter Catechism—his Calvinist aunt sought the best education for the boy, intending him for the ministry.
The blind American hymn writer Fanny Crosby was born on March 24, 1820 in the village of Brewster, about 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. She was incredibly prolific, penning over 8,000 hymns, more than any other person. Fanny was once asked if she wished that she hadn't been born without sight. She replied the good thing about being born blind is she knew the first face she would see would be the face of Jesus.
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Birthplace of Fanny Crosby Wikipedia |
English textile designer William Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on March 24, 1834. He was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. Educated at Marlborough College, William studied for holy orders at Oxford University, but renounced the Church, and changed to architecture.After his marriage in 1859, Morris began his career as a decorator.
Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz in Budapest, Hungary on March 24, 1874. His parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz, and Cecília Weisz (née Steiner;). Erik arrived in the United States in 1878, on the SS Fresia with his family. At the age of fifteen, Ehrich discovered the autobiography of the greatest conjurer of the nineteenth century, French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Ehrich was fascinated by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that the work sparked his enthusiasm for magic.
For more March 24 anniversaries, including Johann Sebastian Bach's dedication of The Brandenburg Concertos to the Count Brandenburg, the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, and the assassination of Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, check out OnThatDay.
German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was born on March 23, 1912. Among his designs were the V-2 ballistic missile used by Germany during World War II. Following World War II, Von Brann was secretly moved from Germany to the United States, where he helped develop the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1, and the Apollo program manned lunar landings.
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Von Braun in 1960 |
Princess Eugenie of York, the second child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson was born on March 23 1990. She is tenth in line to the UK throne.
For more March 23 anniversaries, including the installation of the first passenger elevator, the publication of John Lennon's book, In His Own Write, and the outbreak of The Sierra Leone Civil War, check out OnThatDay.
French mime artist Marcel Marceau was born on March 22, 1923. He was most famous for his stage persona as "Bip the Clown," which he first played at the Théâtre de Poche in Paris in 1947. Marceau referred to mime as the "art of silence," and he performed professionally worldwide for over 60 years. He was said to be single-handedly responsible for reviving the art of mime after World War II.
For more March 22 anniversaries, including the marriage of Gioachino Rossini to Spanish soprano Isabella Colbra, the first patent for a laser and Barbra Streisand's Broadway debut, check out OnThatDay.
Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Saxe-Eisenach, Germany on March 21, 1685, the youngest of eight children. Johann was orphaned aged 10 and was raised by his eldest brother Johann Christoph Bach, the organist at the Michaeliskirche in nearby Ohrdruf. He attended the Gymnasium in Eisenach the same school that Martin Luther attended 200 years earlier.
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Eisenach in 1647 |
Bach was acknowledged in Germany as the greatest organist of his time and esteemed as a specialist in the mechanics of organ building. However his contrapuntal (music that consists of two or more melodies played at the same time) style of writing sounded old fashioned to his contemporaries. Indeed his sons Carl Philip and Johann Christian Bach were more famous in their lifetime than their father.
The Roman poetical writer Ovid was born in Sulmo (modern Sulmona), in an Apennine valley 90 miles east of Rome, to a wealthy family, on March 20, 43 BC. Ovid's full name was Publius Ovidius Naso. The cognomen Naso means "the one with the nose" (i.e. "Big nose") in Latin. Ovid habitually referred to himself by his nickname.
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Bust of Ovid by anonymous sculptor. By Lucasaw Wikipedia |
The Puritan poetess Anne Bradstreet was born on March 20, 1612. The first American female writer, her first volume of poetry The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America was published in 1650. It was widely read in America and England.
David Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813 in a Glasgow worker's tenement in the mill town of Blantyre, Strathclyde, Scotland. Livingstone's father ran his own business as a door-to-door tea salesman, so the room was constantly fragrant with the smell of tea. At the age of 21, Livingstone was inspired to take up Theology and Medical studies after hearing an appeal by British and American Churches for medical missionaries to go to China. A pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, as an explorer in Africa, he was the first European to discover the waterfall that was later named Victoria Falls.
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Posthumous portrait of David Livingstone by Frederick Havill |
Chairman Mao's fourth and final wife, failed actress Jiang Qing, was born on March 19, 1914. Mao Zedong first met the neurotic, imperious, Jiang Qing at the the Chinese Communist headquarters in Yan'an in 1937. They married in a small private ceremony following approval by the Party's Central Committee the following year. Jiang became active in politics in the mid 1960s and was the driving force behind the Cultural Revolution.
The actor Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in the town of Idar-Oberstein, West Germany. Bruce's father, David Willis, was an American soldier. His mother, Marlene, was German. He had severe stuttering problems as a child. Bruce discovered the stutter disappeared while performing in a school play through the memorization of lines. While studying acting in college it was the combination of acting and speech therapy which helped him overcome his condition.
For more March 19 anniversaries, including the first bank robbery in United States history, the first U.S. air combat mission and the opening of The Sydney Harbor Bridge check out OnThatDay.
Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born on March 18, 1837.
For more March 18 anniversaries, including Caligula becoming the Roman emperor, the last woman in England to be officially burned at the stake and the founding of American Express check out OnThatDay.
Legendary Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938. Rudolf Nureyev was a star of the Kirov Ballet in the Soviet Union before defecting to the West while on tour in Paris in 1961. He then became the most prominent ballet dancer in the world before dying of Aids, aged 54.
For more March 17 anniversaries, including the end of the Siege of Boston, the opening of Washington DC's National Gallery of Art and the end of apartheid in South Africa, check out OnThatDay.
Caroline Herschel, the first woman to be paid for her scientific work, was born on March 16, 1750. Caroline Herschel was a German astronomer who worked with her brother William Herschel throughout his career. Her most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name.
The 4th President of the United States, James Madison, was born at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia on March 16, 1751, where his mother had returned to her parents' home to give birth. His father James Madison Sr. was a tobacco planter who became the largest landowner and a leading citizen of Orange County, in the Piedmont. James Jr.'s mother, Nelly Conway Madison was the daughter of a prominent planter and tobacco merchant and his wife.
English navigator and cartographer Captain Matthew Flinders was born on March 16, 1774. He was the leader of the first circumnavigation of Australia. In 1804 Flinders recommended the new continent be named 'Australia', as an umbrella term for New Holland and New South Wales. (The name is from the Latin ‘australis’, meaning ‘of the south’.) It took 20 years before the UK government agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
For more March 16 anniversaries, including the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrim Fathers, the first FA Cup Final, and the marriage of Guglielmo Marconi to Beatrice O'Brien, check out OnThatDay.
Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaws region of North and South Carolina, to Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ireland two years earlier. He was the first U.S. President who was not born into a rich family. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army defeating the Creek Indians at the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend and becoming a national hero after and routing the British a year later at the Battle of New Orleans.
English physician and epidemiologist John Snow was born on March 15, 1813 in York, England. A pioneer of medical hygiene, Snow traced the source of a cholera outbreak to a public water pump in Broad Street, Soho, London. After the local council disabled the well pump it ended the outbreak. The adoption of Snow's recommended sanitary precautions such as boiling all drinking water eliminated cholera from entire communities in England.
For more March 15 anniversaries, including the founding of Liverpool FC, the invention of the escalator, and the first marriage of Elizabeth Taylor to Richard Burton, check out OnThatDay.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, a city in the kingdom of Württemberg in the German empire. Albert was unable to speak until the age of three when at supper one night he broke his silence to say "The soup is too hot." His parents asked why he hadn't talked before. "Because up to now everything was in order," he replied. Young Albert was known as "Beider Meier" (Honest John) because of his prodigiously accurate way of speaking.
The actor Michael Caine was born on March 14, 1933 in St Olave's Hospital, Rotherhithe, London, the son of Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market porter, and Ellen Frances Marie (née Burchell), a cook and charwoman. Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, he took his stage name from the film The Caine Mutiny (1954). While he uses "Michael Caine" professionally, he uses his given name in his personal life.
For more March 14 anniversaries, including the largest accidental oil spill in history, the trademarking of Oreo, and the marriage of Ernest Hemingway to Mary Welsh, check out OnThatDay.
The distinguished astronomer Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lowell has been described by other planetary scientists as "the most influential popularizer of planetary science in America before Carl Sagan." In the late 19th century, telescopic observation of apparent Martian canals increased speculation about life on Mars. In 1895, Percival Lowell published his book Mars, followed by Mars and its Canals in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilization. The canals however, turned out to be optical illusions.
Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States, was born on March 18, 1837.
His father Richard Falley Cleveland was a Presbyterian minister and his mother the daughter of a bookseller. Cleveland was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was one of the two Democrats (alongside Woodrow Wilson) elected to the presidOnThatDay. in the era of Republican political domination dating from 1861 to 1933.
Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (1937-40), was born in Birmingham on March 18, 1869. He was the son of Joseph Chamberlain, a Member of Parliament from 1876 to 1914, and Colonial Secretary from 1895 to 1903. At 21 Chamberlain's father sent him to manage a sisal plantation in the Bahamas to try to recoup diminished family fortunes. He didn’t become an MP until the age of 49. As Prime Minister, Chamberlain is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement towards Germany, and after that failed leading the United Kingdom through the first eight months of the World War II.
Legendary Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev was born on March 17, 1938. Rudolf Nureyev was a star of the Kirov Ballet in the Soviet Union before defecting to the West while on tour in Paris in 1961. He then became the most prominent ballet dancer in the world before dying of Aids, aged 54.
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Nureyev in his dressing room c. 1974, By Allan Aarren |
For more March 17 anniversaries, including the end of the Siege of Boston, the opening of Washington DC's National Gallery of Art and the end of apartheid in South Africa, check out OnThatDay.
Caroline Herschel, the first woman to be paid for her scientific work, was born on March 16, 1750. Caroline Herschel was a German astronomer who worked with her brother William Herschel throughout his career. Her most significant contributions to astronomy were the discoveries of several comets, including the periodic comet 35P/Herschel-Rigollet, which bears her name.
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William and Caroline Herschel polishing a telescope mirror By http://wellcomeimages.org |
The 4th President of the United States, James Madison, was born at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia on March 16, 1751, where his mother had returned to her parents' home to give birth. His father James Madison Sr. was a tobacco planter who became the largest landowner and a leading citizen of Orange County, in the Piedmont. James Jr.'s mother, Nelly Conway Madison was the daughter of a prominent planter and tobacco merchant and his wife.
English navigator and cartographer Captain Matthew Flinders was born on March 16, 1774. He was the leader of the first circumnavigation of Australia. In 1804 Flinders recommended the new continent be named 'Australia', as an umbrella term for New Holland and New South Wales. (The name is from the Latin ‘australis’, meaning ‘of the south’.) It took 20 years before the UK government agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
For more March 16 anniversaries, including the first Native American to make contact with the Pilgrim Fathers, the first FA Cup Final, and the marriage of Guglielmo Marconi to Beatrice O'Brien, check out OnThatDay.
Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaws region of North and South Carolina, to Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ireland two years earlier. He was the first U.S. President who was not born into a rich family. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army defeating the Creek Indians at the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend and becoming a national hero after and routing the British a year later at the Battle of New Orleans.
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Andrew Jackson Official White House Portrait |
English physician and epidemiologist John Snow was born on March 15, 1813 in York, England. A pioneer of medical hygiene, Snow traced the source of a cholera outbreak to a public water pump in Broad Street, Soho, London. After the local council disabled the well pump it ended the outbreak. The adoption of Snow's recommended sanitary precautions such as boiling all drinking water eliminated cholera from entire communities in England.
For more March 15 anniversaries, including the founding of Liverpool FC, the invention of the escalator, and the first marriage of Elizabeth Taylor to Richard Burton, check out OnThatDay.
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, a city in the kingdom of Württemberg in the German empire. Albert was unable to speak until the age of three when at supper one night he broke his silence to say "The soup is too hot." His parents asked why he hadn't talked before. "Because up to now everything was in order," he replied. Young Albert was known as "Beider Meier" (Honest John) because of his prodigiously accurate way of speaking.
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Einstein at the age of 3 in 1882 |
The actor Michael Caine was born on March 14, 1933 in St Olave's Hospital, Rotherhithe, London, the son of Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, a fish market porter, and Ellen Frances Marie (née Burchell), a cook and charwoman. Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, he took his stage name from the film The Caine Mutiny (1954). While he uses "Michael Caine" professionally, he uses his given name in his personal life.
For more March 14 anniversaries, including the largest accidental oil spill in history, the trademarking of Oreo, and the marriage of Ernest Hemingway to Mary Welsh, check out OnThatDay.
The distinguished astronomer Percival Lowell was born on March 13, 1855 in Boston, Massachusetts. Lowell has been described by other planetary scientists as "the most influential popularizer of planetary science in America before Carl Sagan." In the late 19th century, telescopic observation of apparent Martian canals increased speculation about life on Mars. In 1895, Percival Lowell published his book Mars, followed by Mars and its Canals in 1906, proposing that the canals were the work of a long-gone civilization. The canals however, turned out to be optical illusions.
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Percival Lowell during the early-20th century |
Lowell was convinced that a celestial body lay beyond Uranus and Neptune, as he believed that the two planets were displaced from their predicted positions by the gravity of an unseen Planet X. Lowell started a search program in 1906, forming the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death. The naming of Pluto was influenced by his initials
For more March 13 anniversaries, including the naming of Harvard College, the discovery of Uranus, Canberra and the forming of the KGB check out OnThatDay.
English theologian, geologist and palaeontologist William Buckland was born on March 12, 1784. Buckland claimed to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom. He opined that mole meat tastes vile and was the most distasteful he consumed along with bluebottle.
Charles Boycott was born on March 12, 1832. He was a former soldier who worked as a land agent for Lord Erne (John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne), a landowner in the Lough Mask area of County May, Ireland. The Norfolk-born soldier’s surname gave the world the word ‘boycott’ when he refused to cut tenants’ rents and they stopped serving him in their shops and pubs.
Vaslav Nijinsky, a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, was born on March 12, 1889. Nijinsky was regarded as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky's last public performance was in 1917 and he spent the final three decades of his life in and out of psychiatric hospitals before dying in London.
For more March 12 anniversaries, including the debut of the world's first black international football player, the naming of Australia's capital city, Canberra and the marriage of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman, check out OnThatDay.
Harold Wilson was born at 4 Warneford Road, Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, on March 11, 1916. Harold's father James Herbert Wilson was a works chemist who had been active in the Liberal Party. Wilson became one of the youngest Oxford dons of the century at the age of 21. He was a lecturer in Economic History at New College from 1937, and a research fellow at University College. A member of the Labour Party, Wilson served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.
For more March 11 anniversaries, including the last time a British monarch vetoed legislation. the patenting of the world’s first self-raising flour and the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, check out OnThatDay.
The father of microscopical anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology Marcello Malpighi was born on March 10, 1628 at Crevalcore near Bologna, Italy. The son of well-to-do parents, Malpighi was educated in his native city, entering the University of Bologna at the age of 17. He made many discoveries in his microscope including the link between arteries and veins and was one of the earliest people to observe red blood cells.
Fanny Trollope, the mother of the English novelist Anthony Trollope was born on March 10, 1779. An entrepreneur, traveler and novelist, who was in her time the famous Trollope. Fanny Trollope built and designed a bazaar in the frontier town of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1828, with the intention of selling imported luxury goods. The project failed and on her return to England, Trollope began writing. The publication of her 1832 Domestic Manners of the Americans made her famous.
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a billionaire construction magnate with close ties to the Saudi royal family and Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas (then called Alia Ghanem). He was the 17th of 52 children in total of Muhammad Awad bin Laden. A founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda, Bin Laden declared a war against the United States and masterminded the September 11 attacks.
For more March 10 anniversaries, including the issue of the first US paper money, the marriage of Princess Alexandra of Denmark to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) and the first telephone call check out OnThatDay.
American composer Samuel Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of pianist Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and physician Samuel Le Roy Barber. A child prodigy, at the age of 10 Samuel Barber wrote a short opera entitled The Rose. Two years later, he was holding down a part-time $100-a-month organist’s post at Westminster Church in West Chester. One of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century, Barber's Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned him a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras.
For more March 9 anniversaries, including the publication of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the first documented discovery of gold in California, and the founding of Inter Milan check out OnThatDay.
Mrs. Josephine Cochrane, the inventor of the first dishwasher, was born on March 8, 1839.
For more March 8 anniversaries, including the publication of Johannes Kepler's third law of planetary motion, the first person to be legally declared a slave in North America, and the first song to be performed in outer space, check out OnThatDay
British astronomer William Herschel's only son, John was born on March 7, 1792. Highly intelligent, he placed first in mathematics exams and at 21, he became the youngest person admitted to the Royal Society. John Herschel built a reflecting telescope and invented the actinometer to measure the direct heating power of the sun's rays. He also made many contributions to the science of photography, and investigated color blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays.
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was born to a music-loving family on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France, to a Basque mother and a Swiss engineer father. He moved to Paris with his family as an infant. It soon became clear that Maurice was musically gifted, so his father arranged for him to have piano lessons with a well-known teacher. In 1889, aged just 14, Maurice entered France's most important musical college the Paris Conservatoire.
Ranulph Fiennes, who is regarded as the world’s greatest living explorer, was born on March 7, 1944. Fiennes was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. After getting severe frostbite during an expedition in 2000, back home he sawed off his fingertips to avoid a £6,000 operation.
For more March 7 anniversaries, including the patenting of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the launch of the first dreadnought battleship, and The Beatles' first appearance on the BBC check out OnThatDay.
Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475 in Caprese a tiny Florentine village in Tuscany. Against his father's wishes, Michelangelo chose to be the apprentice of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio for three years starting in 1488. Impressed, Domenico recommended him to the ruler of Florence. Lorenzo de' Medici. Ghirlandaio said, “This boy knows more than I do”.
A perfectionist, Michelangelo was forever altering his work, the prime example being the tomb of Pope Julius II on which he worked periodically for 40 years and never finished.
For more March 6 anniversaries, including the incorporation of Toronto, the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, and the founding of Real Madrid check out OnThatDay.
King Henry II of England was born in France at Le Mans on March 5, 1133 as the eldest child of Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. Henry grew up in Anjou in northern France, where he was educated by Peter of Saintes, a noted grammarian of the day. As King of England from 1154 to 1189 his legal changes laid the basis for the English Common Law. By His marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, he acquired large tracts of land in France.
For more March 5, anniversaries, including 62-year-old Annie Oakley breaking all records for women's trap shooting, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receiving 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, and Taylor Swift's primetime television acting debut, check out OnThatDay.
The composer Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy. When he was born he looked so frail that the midwife baptized him immediately. Antonio grew to love the violin and played along with his father at St. Mark's Basilica. One of the greatest Baroque composers, his best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons. While Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well.
For more March 13 anniversaries, including the naming of Harvard College, the discovery of Uranus, Canberra and the forming of the KGB check out OnThatDay.
English theologian, geologist and palaeontologist William Buckland was born on March 12, 1784. Buckland claimed to have eaten his way through the animal kingdom. He opined that mole meat tastes vile and was the most distasteful he consumed along with bluebottle.
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Painting by Richard Ansdell |
Charles Boycott was born on March 12, 1832. He was a former soldier who worked as a land agent for Lord Erne (John Crichton, 3rd Earl Erne), a landowner in the Lough Mask area of County May, Ireland. The Norfolk-born soldier’s surname gave the world the word ‘boycott’ when he refused to cut tenants’ rents and they stopped serving him in their shops and pubs.
Vaslav Nijinsky, a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, was born on March 12, 1889. Nijinsky was regarded as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky's last public performance was in 1917 and he spent the final three decades of his life in and out of psychiatric hospitals before dying in London.
For more March 12 anniversaries, including the debut of the world's first black international football player, the naming of Australia's capital city, Canberra and the marriage of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman, check out OnThatDay.
Harold Wilson was born at 4 Warneford Road, Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, on March 11, 1916. Harold's father James Herbert Wilson was a works chemist who had been active in the Liberal Party. Wilson became one of the youngest Oxford dons of the century at the age of 21. He was a lecturer in Economic History at New College from 1937, and a research fellow at University College. A member of the Labour Party, Wilson served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976.
Duke Ellington's only son, Mercer Kennedy Ellington, was born on March 11, 1919. Mercer Ellington became a jazz trumpeter and composer. He led his own bands, many of whose members went on to play with his father, or to achieve independent fame (notably Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Carmen McRae).
For more March 11 anniversaries, including the last time a British monarch vetoed legislation. the patenting of the world’s first self-raising flour and the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto, check out OnThatDay.
The father of microscopical anatomy, histology, physiology and embryology Marcello Malpighi was born on March 10, 1628 at Crevalcore near Bologna, Italy. The son of well-to-do parents, Malpighi was educated in his native city, entering the University of Bologna at the age of 17. He made many discoveries in his microscope including the link between arteries and veins and was one of the earliest people to observe red blood cells.
Fanny Trollope, the mother of the English novelist Anthony Trollope was born on March 10, 1779. An entrepreneur, traveler and novelist, who was in her time the famous Trollope. Fanny Trollope built and designed a bazaar in the frontier town of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1828, with the intention of selling imported luxury goods. The project failed and on her return to England, Trollope began writing. The publication of her 1832 Domestic Manners of the Americans made her famous.
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Oil on canvas of Frances Trollope by Auguste Hervieu, circa 1832 |
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was born on March 10, 1957 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a son of Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a billionaire construction magnate with close ties to the Saudi royal family and Mohammed bin Laden's tenth wife, Hamida al-Attas (then called Alia Ghanem). He was the 17th of 52 children in total of Muhammad Awad bin Laden. A founder of the pan-Islamic militant organization al-Qaeda, Bin Laden declared a war against the United States and masterminded the September 11 attacks.
For more March 10 anniversaries, including the issue of the first US paper money, the marriage of Princess Alexandra of Denmark to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII) and the first telephone call check out OnThatDay.
American composer Samuel Barber was born on March 9, 1910 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, the son of pianist Marguerite McLeod (née Beatty) and physician Samuel Le Roy Barber. A child prodigy, at the age of 10 Samuel Barber wrote a short opera entitled The Rose. Two years later, he was holding down a part-time $100-a-month organist’s post at Westminster Church in West Chester. One of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century, Barber's Adagio for Strings (1936) has earned him a permanent place in the concert repertory of orchestras.
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Samuel Barber 1944 |
Bobby Fischer was born on March 9, 1943. Many consider him the greatest chess player of all time. Leading American chess master Donald Byrne and and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer played a famous chess game called The Game of the Century in 1956. Fischer beat Byrne and won a Brilliancy prize. Fischer won the World Chess Championship in a Cold War battle against the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972.
For more March 9 anniversaries, including the publication of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the first documented discovery of gold in California, and the founding of Inter Milan check out OnThatDay.
Mrs. Josephine Cochrane, the inventor of the first dishwasher, was born on March 8, 1839.
Exasperated with her staff’s ability to chip her fine china, Mrs. Josephine Cochrane of Shelbyville, Illinois invented the first dishwasher with her mechanic employee, George Butters in 1886. Josephine Cochrane's dishwasher was manually operated and used a copper boiler outfitted with wire racks.
British aeronautical engineer Beatrice (Tilly) Shilling OBE PhD MSc CEng was born on March 8, 1909. Shilling received the thanks of thousands of RAF pilots during World War II when she invented a diaphragm which allowed fuel to get to an aircraft’s Rolls-Royce Merlin engine regardless of the plane’s violent movements, ensuring the engine wouldn’t stall.
For more March 8 anniversaries, including the publication of Johannes Kepler's third law of planetary motion, the first person to be legally declared a slave in North America, and the first song to be performed in outer space, check out OnThatDay
British astronomer William Herschel's only son, John was born on March 7, 1792. Highly intelligent, he placed first in mathematics exams and at 21, he became the youngest person admitted to the Royal Society. John Herschel built a reflecting telescope and invented the actinometer to measure the direct heating power of the sun's rays. He also made many contributions to the science of photography, and investigated color blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays.
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was born to a music-loving family on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, France, to a Basque mother and a Swiss engineer father. He moved to Paris with his family as an infant. It soon became clear that Maurice was musically gifted, so his father arranged for him to have piano lessons with a well-known teacher. In 1889, aged just 14, Maurice entered France's most important musical college the Paris Conservatoire.
Ranulph Fiennes, who is regarded as the world’s greatest living explorer, was born on March 7, 1944. Fiennes was the first person to visit both the North and South Poles by surface means and the first to completely cross Antarctica on foot. After getting severe frostbite during an expedition in 2000, back home he sawed off his fingertips to avoid a £6,000 operation.
For more March 7 anniversaries, including the patenting of Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the launch of the first dreadnought battleship, and The Beatles' first appearance on the BBC check out OnThatDay.
Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475 in Caprese a tiny Florentine village in Tuscany. Against his father's wishes, Michelangelo chose to be the apprentice of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio for three years starting in 1488. Impressed, Domenico recommended him to the ruler of Florence. Lorenzo de' Medici. Ghirlandaio said, “This boy knows more than I do”.
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Portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra |
A perfectionist, Michelangelo was forever altering his work, the prime example being the tomb of Pope Julius II on which he worked periodically for 40 years and never finished.
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born on March 6, 1806, in Coxhoe Hall, between the villages of Coxhoe and Kelloe in County Durham, England. Elizabeth was educated at home and attended lessons with her brother's tutor. This gave her a good education for a girl of that time. She was an intensely studious, precocious child and had read passages from Paradise Lost and Shakespearean plays, and the histories of England, Greece and Rome before the age of ten.
For more March 6 anniversaries, including the incorporation of Toronto, the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, and the founding of Real Madrid check out OnThatDay.
King Henry II of England was born in France at Le Mans on March 5, 1133 as the eldest child of Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. Henry grew up in Anjou in northern France, where he was educated by Peter of Saintes, a noted grammarian of the day. As King of England from 1154 to 1189 his legal changes laid the basis for the English Common Law. By His marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, he acquired large tracts of land in France.
Robert the Bruce's son David II of Scotland was born on March 5, 1324. He was one of the worst rulers in the history of the British Isles. David ruined his country with his extravagant spending and futile raids into England before offering the succession of Scotland to Edward III. The arrangement was repudiated by the Scottish Parliament.
For more March 5, anniversaries, including 62-year-old Annie Oakley breaking all records for women's trap shooting, Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party receiving 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, and Taylor Swift's primetime television acting debut, check out OnThatDay.
The composer Antonio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy. When he was born he looked so frail that the midwife baptized him immediately. Antonio grew to love the violin and played along with his father at St. Mark's Basilica. One of the greatest Baroque composers, his best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons. While Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well.
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Probable portrait of Vivaldi, c. 1723 |
Jack Sheppard, the notorious English burglar, robber and thief of early 18th-century London was born on March 4, 1702. Sheppard was as renowned for his attempts to escape imprisonment as he was for his crimes. Ultimately, he was caught, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, ending his brief criminal career after less than two years.
For more March 4, anniversaries, including the incorporation of Chicago, the first known case of the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the marriage of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis. check out OnThatDay.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born at 16 South Charlotte Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck" which his father continued to call him into later life.
The inspiration for the telephone came when Bell was working to improve the telegram in Boston, Massachusetts. Not adept with his hands, the Scot was aided by a young repair mechanic and model maker, Thomas Watson. On June 2, 1875 Watson made a mistake, the incorrect contact of a clamping screw which was too tight changed what should have been an intermittent transmission into a continuous current. Bell at the other end of the wire heard the line vibrate and emit the same timbre of a plucked reed.
For more March 4, anniversaries, including the incorporation of Chicago, the first known case of the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the marriage of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis. check out OnThatDay.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was born at 16 South Charlotte Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3, 1847. To close relatives and friends he remained "Aleck" which his father continued to call him into later life.
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Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago in 1892 |
Sarah Rector was born on March 3, 1902. An impoverished African American member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, at the age of 11 she became a millionaire oil baron when oil was discovered on the land allotted to her by the government. Sarah avoided hundreds of attempts to scam her out of her fortune and became known as the “Richest colored girl in the world.” She lost the majority of her wealth in the Great Depression, as did many wealthy Americans.
For more March 3, anniversaries, including the first African American to be granted a patent, the premiere of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, and The Kentucky meat shower check out OnThatDay.
Saint Benedict of Nursia was born in Nursia (now Norcia, Italy) on March 2, 480AD. Tradition holds that he was born into a noble family, but he chose a life of spiritual dedication. Benedict is best known for his establishment of the Rule of Saint Benedict, a set of guidelines for monastic living. His rule emphasized a balanced life of prayer, work, and study, focusing on moderation, obedience, and humility. The Rule has been widely influential and is still followed by Benedictine communities around the world.
American catcher and coach Morris "Moe" Berg was born on March 2, 1902. Although he played 15 seasons in the major leagues, almost entirely for four American League teams, Berg was never more than an average player. He was better known for being "the brainiest guy in baseball." Berg spoke several languages and found a post-baseball career as a US spy during World War II; he was ordered to kill Werner Heisenberg if the Nazis came close to building a nuclear bomb.
For more March 2, anniversaries, including the first ballet performed in Britain, the installation of the first automatic street light and the premiere of The Sound of Music movie, check out OnThatDay.
Frédéric Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in a manor house in a village Zelazowa Wola, 36 miles from Warsaw, Poland. He was born to Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Polonized French teacher and Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska. A precocious child, Chopin began piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of 7, he was already the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B-flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski.
American lawyer and politician Luther Johnson Strange III was born March 1, 1953. He served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. At 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, Luther Strange was the tallest United States senator in American history.
Pop singer Justin Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, at St Joseph's Hospital. Justin is the son of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia "Pattie" Mallette. They never got married and Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother Diane, and stepfather, Bruce. Justin paid tribute to his mom with his song "Turn to You (Mother's Day Dedication," which he explained is about, "the struggles she went through and how brave she was and I think the world needs to know that."
For more March 1 anniversaries, including the admission of Nebraska as the 37th U.S. state, the creation of the Samsung company and the largest nuclear bomb ever tested by the United States, check out OnThatDay.
The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, in the Papal States, which is now part of Italy. He is widely recognized as one of the most prominent composers of the 19th century, particularly known for his contributions to the opera genre. They include The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and William Tell (Guillaume Tell).Rossini's works continue to be widely performed and appreciated. He is remembered for his mastery of melody, comedic flair, and the enduring popularity of many of his compositions.
For more March 3, anniversaries, including the first African American to be granted a patent, the premiere of Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, and The Kentucky meat shower check out OnThatDay.
Saint Benedict of Nursia was born in Nursia (now Norcia, Italy) on March 2, 480AD. Tradition holds that he was born into a noble family, but he chose a life of spiritual dedication. Benedict is best known for his establishment of the Rule of Saint Benedict, a set of guidelines for monastic living. His rule emphasized a balanced life of prayer, work, and study, focusing on moderation, obedience, and humility. The Rule has been widely influential and is still followed by Benedictine communities around the world.
The German-American author and illustrator Theodor Seuss "Ted" Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 2, 1904. He is best known for authoring more than 60 children's books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. Geisel was not a doctor. He later added the “Dr.” to his "Seuss" pen name because his father had wanted him to become a professor. Dr Seuss’ should be pronounced ‘Dr Zoice’ (rhymes 'voice').
Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 to a peasant family in Privolnoye, southwest Russia. As a child, Mikhail experienced the Soviet famine of 1932–1933. Nearly half the population of his native village starved to death, including two sisters and an uncle. Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union from 1990 until it was dissolved in 1991.
For more March 2, anniversaries, including the first ballet performed in Britain, the installation of the first automatic street light and the premiere of The Sound of Music movie, check out OnThatDay.
Frédéric Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 as Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin in a manor house in a village Zelazowa Wola, 36 miles from Warsaw, Poland. He was born to Mikołaj (Nicolas) Chopin, a Polonized French teacher and Tekla Justyna Krzyżanowska. A precocious child, Chopin began piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of 7, he was already the author of two polonaises (in G minor and B-flat major), the first being published in the engraving workshop of Father Cybulski.
American lawyer and politician Luther Johnson Strange III was born March 1, 1953. He served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. At 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, Luther Strange was the tallest United States senator in American history.
Pop singer Justin Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, at St Joseph's Hospital. Justin is the son of Jeremy Jack Bieber and Patricia "Pattie" Mallette. They never got married and Pattie raised her son with the help of her mother Diane, and stepfather, Bruce. Justin paid tribute to his mom with his song "Turn to You (Mother's Day Dedication," which he explained is about, "the struggles she went through and how brave she was and I think the world needs to know that."
For more March 1 anniversaries, including the admission of Nebraska as the 37th U.S. state, the creation of the Samsung company and the largest nuclear bomb ever tested by the United States, check out OnThatDay.
The Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792, in Pesaro, in the Papal States, which is now part of Italy. He is widely recognized as one of the most prominent composers of the 19th century, particularly known for his contributions to the opera genre. They include The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and William Tell (Guillaume Tell).Rossini's works continue to be widely performed and appreciated. He is remembered for his mastery of melody, comedic flair, and the enduring popularity of many of his compositions.
For more February 29 birthdays, including the only Pope ever to be born on a leap year day and the American inventor of a tabulating machine that was a precursor of the computer, check out OnThatDay
French mineralogist and priest René Just Haüy was born at Saint-Just-en-Chaussée on February 28, 1743, Haüy founded the science of crystallography after he accidentally broke a piece of calcite and discovered that they cleaved along straight planes that met at constant angles. He broke more pieces to confirm his discovery and developed the theory of crystal structure.
Seven Nobel Prize winners had birthdays on February 28. No other date has as many apart from May 21 (also seven). They are: American physician and endocrinologist, Philip Showalter Hench (b 1896), American chemist and activist, Linus Pauling (b 1901), Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Peter Medawar (b 1915), American physicist and academic, Leon Cooper (b 1930), Chinese-American physicist and academic, Daniel C. Tsui, (b 1939), American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Stephen Chu (b 1948), American economist and academic, Paul Krugman (b 1953).
French mineralogist and priest René Just Haüy was born at Saint-Just-en-Chaussée on February 28, 1743, Haüy founded the science of crystallography after he accidentally broke a piece of calcite and discovered that they cleaved along straight planes that met at constant angles. He broke more pieces to confirm his discovery and developed the theory of crystal structure.
Seven Nobel Prize winners had birthdays on February 28. No other date has as many apart from May 21 (also seven). They are: American physician and endocrinologist, Philip Showalter Hench (b 1896), American chemist and activist, Linus Pauling (b 1901), Brazilian-English biologist and immunologist, Peter Medawar (b 1915), American physicist and academic, Leon Cooper (b 1930), Chinese-American physicist and academic, Daniel C. Tsui, (b 1939), American physicist and politician, 12th United States Secretary of Energy, Stephen Chu (b 1948), American economist and academic, Paul Krugman (b 1953).
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Linus Pauling with an inset of his Nobel Prize in 1955 |
For more February 28 anniversaries, including the start of China's Han dynasty, the first Christians to be killed for their faith in America, and the airing of M*A*S*H's final episode, check out OnThatDay.
English publisher Edward Cave was born on February 27, 1691.The first periodical called a magazine was the Gentleman's Magazine launched by Edward Cave in January 1731. In an age of lousy yellow journalism, the punchy periodical featured stories about fire-eating as well as essays by a young upstart named Samuel Johnson.
English publisher Edward Cave was born on February 27, 1691.The first periodical called a magazine was the Gentleman's Magazine launched by Edward Cave in January 1731. In an age of lousy yellow journalism, the punchy periodical featured stories about fire-eating as well as essays by a young upstart named Samuel Johnson.
The actress Elizabeth Taylor was born in London on February 27, 1932. Her parents, Francis Lenn Taylor and Sara Sothern, were originally from Arkansas City, Kansas and were living in England. They returned to the United States on the onset of World War II. Elizabeth Taylor began her movie career as a child actress in the early 1940s, making her screen debut in a minor role in There's One Born Every Minute (1942). Her breakthrough role came two years later in National Velvet.
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Colorized Film still of Elizabeth Taylor, late 1950s. |
For more February 27 anniversaries, including the oldest surviving English opera, the marriage of Wilhelm II, German Emperor to Princess Augusta Victoria, the founding of the FC Bayern Munich football club and Pokémon first hitting the shelves in Japan, check out OnThatDay.
French poet, novelist and dramatist Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besançon, near Dijon in eastern France to an army officer father Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. Hugo was the most popular writer of his time and on his 80th birthday there were nationwide celebrations in France. Outside France, his most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame 1831 and Les Misérables, 1862, In France, Hugo is also renowned for his poetry collections.
French poet, novelist and dramatist Victor Hugo was born on February 26, 1802 in Besançon, near Dijon in eastern France to an army officer father Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet. Hugo was the most popular writer of his time and on his 80th birthday there were nationwide celebrations in France. Outside France, his most famous works are the novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame 1831 and Les Misérables, 1862, In France, Hugo is also renowned for his poetry collections.
Country, rock and roll and gospel star Johnny Cash was born on February 26, 1932 in Kingsland, Arkansas to Ray Cash and Carrie Cloveree (née Rivers). He was originally born J.R. Cash. The J.R. didn’t stand for anything as his parents couldn't think of a name. He took on the first name John when he joined the Air Force because the military wouldn't accept a name with just initials. Known as The Man in Black, Cash is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 90 million records worldwide.
For more February 26 anniversaries, including Napoleon's escape from Elba, the first jazz single ever issued. and the first pilot to eject from a plane during a flight at supersonic speed, check out OnThatDay.
The tenor singer Enrico Caruso was born in Naples, Italy on February 25, 1873. He was the 18th of 21 children, only three of whom lived beyond infancy. Determined to be a singer, he sang in churches and on street corners to earn money for lessons. When he was called into the army, a high officer was so impressed by Caruso's powerful yet melodic voice that he released him to continue studying. The operatic tenor was one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, his 1904 recording of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was the first sound recording to sell a million copies.
The tenor singer Enrico Caruso was born in Naples, Italy on February 25, 1873. He was the 18th of 21 children, only three of whom lived beyond infancy. Determined to be a singer, he sang in churches and on street corners to earn money for lessons. When he was called into the army, a high officer was so impressed by Caruso's powerful yet melodic voice that he released him to continue studying. The operatic tenor was one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, his 1904 recording of "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci was the first sound recording to sell a million copies.
George Harrison of The Beatles was born on February 25, 1943 at 12 Arnold Grove, a house near Picton Clock Tower in the Liverpool suburb of Wavertree. George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney first played together as schoolboys with the Quarrymen. They had been performing in small clubs in Liverpool and in Hamburg, West Germany, when the original drummer was replaced in 1962 by Ringo Starr.
For more February 25 anniversaries, including the patenting of the first production-model revolver, the first public performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' humorous musical suite The Carnival of the Animals and the release of Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, check out OnThatDay.
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in Los Altos, California. Jobs was half Arab by his biological father, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, who grew up in Homs, Syria. Jobs was adopted at birth by Paul and Clara Jobs,. In 1976, his friend Steve Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. Wozniak showed it to Steve Jobs, who suggested that they sell it, after which they and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs's Los Altos home on Crist Drive. During Job's time as CEO of Apple, the company released such revolutionary devices as the iMac, iTunes iPhone and iPad.
For more February 24 anniversaries, including the marriages of Thomas Edison to Mina Miller and Kurt Cobain to Courtney Love, the election of Colonel Juan Perón as President of Argentina and the incorporation of WhatsApp check out OnThatDay.
Diarist Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633 in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London to John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles II, and later under James II. He is celebrated today for his detailed private diary, which Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 and was first published in 1825.
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, in modern day Germany His eminent barber-surgeon father originally intended George Frideric for the study of the Civil Law and strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument. However, he practiced music clandestinely, by means of a little clavichord privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house. By seven, George Frideric was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.
The Polish chemist Casimir Funk was born on February 23, 1884. While working at the Lister Institute in London he discovered that the anti-beriberi substance in unpolished rice was an amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen). Funk suggested the amine be named "vitamine" ("vita" being Latin for life) to indicate a group of compounds considered vital for life. It was later discovered that many vitamins do not contain amines at all, but Funk's term continued to be applied.
For more February 23 anniversaries, including the death of John Keats, the beginning of the Alamo siege, and the first production of the first samples of man-made aluminium, check out OnThatDay.
America’s first president, George Washington, was born on February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the south bank of the Potamac River. George came from a wealthy land and slave owning Virginian family of English descent. The George Washington Birthplace National Monument (a typical plantation home) is built on the site of burnt down house where George was born (it was destroyed by fire in 1779). It is now a tourist attraction.
For more February 22 anniversaries, including the last invasion of Britain, the first female jockey to win a horse race in the US and Britain's biggest peacetime robbery, check out OnThatDay.
Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875. She had the longest confirmed age span in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. Calment lived in Arles, France for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson.
English pilot Douglas Bader was born on February 21, 1910 in St John's Wood, London, to Frederick Roberts Bader, a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie. Douglas attended St Edward's School where he received his secondary education. Fellow RAF night fighter and bomber pilot Guy Gibson also attended the same school. In 1928, Bader joined the RAF as an officer cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in rural Lincolnshire. He came 19th out of 21 in his class examinations.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was born February 21, 1924. He became the President of Zimbabwe in 1987. When Shimon Peres stepped down as Israel’s president in July 2014, Mugabe assumed the mantle of the world’s oldest head of state. On November 15, 2017, President Robert Mugabe was placed under house arrest as Zimbabwe's military took control in a coup. He resigned the Presidency a week later.
For more February 21 anniversaries, including the publication of The Communist Manifesto, the first recorded aircraft hijack and the design of the peace symbol, check out OnThatDay.
The photographer Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 20, 1902, and raised in a house that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge. An American landscape photographer particularly of the mountainous Far West, Adams was considered a technical innovator in his field. He was also honored as a conservationist.
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in Los Altos, California. Jobs was half Arab by his biological father, Abdulfattah "John" Jandali, who grew up in Homs, Syria. Jobs was adopted at birth by Paul and Clara Jobs,. In 1976, his friend Steve Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. Wozniak showed it to Steve Jobs, who suggested that they sell it, after which they and Ronald Wayne formed Apple Computer in the garage of Jobs's Los Altos home on Crist Drive. During Job's time as CEO of Apple, the company released such revolutionary devices as the iMac, iTunes iPhone and iPad.
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Jobs holding an iPhone 4 in 2010. By Matthew Yohe, Wikipedia |
Diarist Samuel Pepys was born on February 23, 1633 in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London to John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. Pepys rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles II, and later under James II. He is celebrated today for his detailed private diary, which Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 and was first published in 1825.
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, in modern day Germany His eminent barber-surgeon father originally intended George Frideric for the study of the Civil Law and strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument. However, he practiced music clandestinely, by means of a little clavichord privately conveyed to a room at the top of the house. By seven, George Frideric was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.
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George Frideric Handel by Balthasar Denner |
The Polish chemist Casimir Funk was born on February 23, 1884. While working at the Lister Institute in London he discovered that the anti-beriberi substance in unpolished rice was an amine (an organic compound containing nitrogen). Funk suggested the amine be named "vitamine" ("vita" being Latin for life) to indicate a group of compounds considered vital for life. It was later discovered that many vitamins do not contain amines at all, but Funk's term continued to be applied.
America’s first president, George Washington, was born on February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on the south bank of the Potamac River. George came from a wealthy land and slave owning Virginian family of English descent. The George Washington Birthplace National Monument (a typical plantation home) is built on the site of burnt down house where George was born (it was destroyed by fire in 1779). It is now a tourist attraction.
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George Washington |
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell was born on February 22, 1857, in London, England. Baden-Powell gained prominence during the Siege of Mafeking in the Second Boer War, where his successful defense of the town brought him national attention and made him a hero in Britain. He founded The Boy Scouts in 1908, and the Girl Guides (later Girl Scouts) followed in 1910. Baden-Powell's vision was to provide a program that would help young people develop character, leadership, and outdoor skills. The Scout Movement quickly spread worldwide and became one of the largest and most influential youth movements.
Jeanne Calment was born on February 21, 1875. She had the longest confirmed age span in history, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days. Calment lived in Arles, France for her entire life, and outlived both her daughter and grandson.
English pilot Douglas Bader was born on February 21, 1910 in St John's Wood, London, to Frederick Roberts Bader, a civil engineer, and his wife Jessie. Douglas attended St Edward's School where he received his secondary education. Fellow RAF night fighter and bomber pilot Guy Gibson also attended the same school. In 1928, Bader joined the RAF as an officer cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell in rural Lincolnshire. He came 19th out of 21 in his class examinations.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was born February 21, 1924. He became the President of Zimbabwe in 1987. When Shimon Peres stepped down as Israel’s president in July 2014, Mugabe assumed the mantle of the world’s oldest head of state. On November 15, 2017, President Robert Mugabe was placed under house arrest as Zimbabwe's military took control in a coup. He resigned the Presidency a week later.
For more February 21 anniversaries, including the publication of The Communist Manifesto, the first recorded aircraft hijack and the design of the peace symbol, check out OnThatDay.
The photographer Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 20, 1902, and raised in a house that overlooked the Golden Gate Bridge. An American landscape photographer particularly of the mountainous Far West, Adams was considered a technical innovator in his field. He was also honored as a conservationist.
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Ansel Adams Photo by J. Malcolm Greany, c. 1950 |
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was born at Grays Harbor Hospital in Aberdeen, Washington on February 20, 1967, to a waitress, Wendy Elizabeth, and an automotive mechanic, Donald Leland Cobain. He had a happy childhood until his parents divorced when he was 7-years-old. The divorce left Kurt's outlook on the world forever scarred. 1981 On his 14th birthday, Kurt Cobain's uncle offered him either a bike or a used guitar. He chose the guitar. Soon, Cobain began working on his own songs.
For more February 20 anniversaries, including the premiere of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville, the first woman to set foot on Antarctica and the first African-American umpire in organized baseball, check out OnThatDay.
Mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in the Polish city of Toruń, His father Nikolas, was a wealthy businessman and copper trader. Copernicus encountered astronomy for the first time at the University of Kraków, thanks to his teacher Albert Brudzewski. He is best known for formulating a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the universe. This theory was controversial at the time but was a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution.
Mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in the Polish city of Toruń, His father Nikolas, was a wealthy businessman and copper trader. Copernicus encountered astronomy for the first time at the University of Kraków, thanks to his teacher Albert Brudzewski. He is best known for formulating a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at the center of the universe. This theory was controversial at the time but was a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution.
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Nicolaus Copernicus portrait from Town Hall in Toruń - 1580) |
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was born on February 19, 1960, at Buckingham Palace in London, England. He is the second son and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Andrew served in the British Royal Navy. He underwent naval training and became a helicopter pilot. He actively served in the Royal Navy from 1979 to 2001, reaching the rank of Commander.
The prince has faced controversies related to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied. The controversy led to Prince Andrew announcing in November 2019 that he would step back from his public duties.
For more February 19 anniversaries, including the most violent volcanic eruption in the recorded history of South America, the founding of the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flake Company and the largest ever attack mounted by a foreign power against Australia, check out OnThatDay.
Mary I of England was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. A precocious child, at the age of four-and-a-half, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin. Known as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, she was the queen of England from 1553 to 1558.
Mary I of England was born on February 18, 1516 at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London. She was the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy. A precocious child, at the age of four-and-a-half, Mary entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). By the age of nine, Mary could read and write Latin. Known as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, she was the queen of England from 1553 to 1558.
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Portrait by Antonis Mor, 1554 |
For more February 18 anniversaries, including the deaths of Kublai Khan, Martin Luther and Michelangelo, the publication of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the first official air mail flight, check out OnThatDay.
President Harry S Truman's only child, Margaret, was born on February 17, 1924. Margaret embarked on a career as a coloratura soprano and appeared in concerts with orchestras throughout the United States in the decade following World War II. She later pursued a career as a journalist and radio personality as the co-host with Mike Wallace of the radio program Weekday. Margaret was also the successful author of 32 books, including biographies of both her parents and 23 mystery novels.
Pop star Ed Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England on February 17, 1991. His father John is an art curator and lecturer, his mother Imogen designs jewellery and his brother Matthew is a classical music composer, who helped him on the orchestrated remix of "Perfect." Ed's first guitar was given to him as a gift by his uncle. Ed initially taught himself, before going on to have proper music lessons.
President Harry S Truman's only child, Margaret, was born on February 17, 1924. Margaret embarked on a career as a coloratura soprano and appeared in concerts with orchestras throughout the United States in the decade following World War II. She later pursued a career as a journalist and radio personality as the co-host with Mike Wallace of the radio program Weekday. Margaret was also the successful author of 32 books, including biographies of both her parents and 23 mystery novels.
Basketball great Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Deloris (née Peoples), who worked in banking, and James R. Jordan, Sr., an equipment supervisor. In 1981, Jordan went to the University of North Carolina to play basketball. North Carolina won the national championship in 1982, his freshman year. Jordan made the winning shot with 18 seconds left in the championship game.
David Goggins was born February 17, 1975. He is the only member in the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Ranger School and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. Goggins retired from active duty as a Chief Petty Officer in 2016. He's also an ultra-athlete and held the world record for most pull-ups in 24hrs.
David Goggins was born February 17, 1975. He is the only member in the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training, Ranger School and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. Goggins retired from active duty as a Chief Petty Officer in 2016. He's also an ultra-athlete and held the world record for most pull-ups in 24hrs.
Pop star Ed Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England on February 17, 1991. His father John is an art curator and lecturer, his mother Imogen designs jewellery and his brother Matthew is a classical music composer, who helped him on the orchestrated remix of "Perfect." Ed's first guitar was given to him as a gift by his uncle. Ed initially taught himself, before going on to have proper music lessons.
For more February 17 anniversaries, including the first submarine to sink an enemy warship, the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and the first issue of Newsweek magazine, check out OnThatDay.
Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il was born in Japanese-occupied Korea on February 16, 1942. Official biographers say Kim Jong-il's birth in a cabin on the slopes of Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea was foretold by a swallow and heralded by a double rainbow. When he was born, a new star appeared in the night sky. North Korean biographies state that Kim Jong-il learned to walk at just three-weeks-old and he was talking at eight weeks.
Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-il was born in Japanese-occupied Korea on February 16, 1942. Official biographers say Kim Jong-il's birth in a cabin on the slopes of Paektu Mountain in Japanese-occupied Korea was foretold by a swallow and heralded by a double rainbow. When he was born, a new star appeared in the night sky. North Korean biographies state that Kim Jong-il learned to walk at just three-weeks-old and he was talking at eight weeks.
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Pyongyang 100th Year Kim Il Sung Birthday Celebrations 03.jpg: Photographed by Joseph Ferris III |
For more February 16 anniversaries, including the first usage of the phrase God bless "you ", the opening of Tutankhamen's burial chamber and the patenting of nylon, check out OnThatDay.
Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, on February 15, 1564 to Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati. Vincenzio Galilei was a professional singer and lutenist who also dabbled in cloth to make ends meet. The "Father of Observational Astronomy," Galileo used the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. He is also known as "The Father of Science." His contributions included dropping different weights from the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa, thereby showing that the rate of a fall of a body is independent of its mass.
Italian astronomer, physicist, and mathematician Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa (then part of the Duchy of Florence), Italy, on February 15, 1564 to Vincenzo Galilei and Giulia Ammannati. Vincenzio Galilei was a professional singer and lutenist who also dabbled in cloth to make ends meet. The "Father of Observational Astronomy," Galileo used the telescope for scientific observations of celestial objects. He is also known as "The Father of Science." His contributions included dropping different weights from the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa, thereby showing that the rate of a fall of a body is independent of its mass.
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Galileo Galilei. Portrait by Leoni |
US social reformer and women's rights activist Susan Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. A precocious child, she learned to read and write at the age of three. Anthony took part in absolutist and temperance movements from an early age. At the age of 16, Susan collected two boxes of petitions opposing slavery, in response to the gag rule prohibiting such petitions in the House of Representatives.
For more February 15 birthdays, including English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham, German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, and Irena Sendler, the ‘female Schindler,’ check out OnThatDay.
Civil engineer George Washington Gale Ferris Jr was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois. Ferris Jr designed the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 World’s Fair, which was held in Chicago. It was intended to rival the height of the Eiffel Tower, a marvel of the 1889 fair in Paris. Over 1.4 million people paid 50 cents for a 20-minute ride over the first 19 weeks it was open to the public. After the fair closed, Ferris claimed that the exhibition management had robbed him and his investors of their rightful portion of the nearly $750,000 profit that his wheel brought in. He spent the next two years in litigation and died in 1896 of typhoid fever.
Civil engineer George Washington Gale Ferris Jr was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois. Ferris Jr designed the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 World’s Fair, which was held in Chicago. It was intended to rival the height of the Eiffel Tower, a marvel of the 1889 fair in Paris. Over 1.4 million people paid 50 cents for a 20-minute ride over the first 19 weeks it was open to the public. After the fair closed, Ferris claimed that the exhibition management had robbed him and his investors of their rightful portion of the nearly $750,000 profit that his wheel brought in. He spent the next two years in litigation and died in 1896 of typhoid fever.
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George Washington Gale Ferris Jr |
American tap dancer, singer, actor, and choreographer Gregory Hines was born on February 14, 1946. He won a Tony Award and an Emmy Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Hines is considered one of the greatest tap dancers of all time.
For more February 14 anniversaries, including the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the admission of Oregon as the 33rd U.S. state, and the marriage of Albert Einstein to Serbian physicist Mileva Marić check out OnThatDay.
Charles "Chuck" Yeager was born February 13, 1923 to farming parents Susie Mae (née Sizemore) and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia. After beginning his career as a private in the United States Army Air Forces, Yeager worked his way up to the rank of P-51 Mustang fighter pilot during the World War II years. In 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier when he piloted a Bell X-1 rocket research aircraft to a level-flight speed of 670 mph (1,080 kms per hr). Yeager reprised the feat in 2012 for the 65th anniversary of the flight aged 89.
Charles "Chuck" Yeager was born February 13, 1923 to farming parents Susie Mae (née Sizemore) and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia. After beginning his career as a private in the United States Army Air Forces, Yeager worked his way up to the rank of P-51 Mustang fighter pilot during the World War II years. In 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier when he piloted a Bell X-1 rocket research aircraft to a level-flight speed of 670 mph (1,080 kms per hr). Yeager reprised the feat in 2012 for the 65th anniversary of the flight aged 89.
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Yeager in front of the Bell X-1, |
For more February 13 anniversaries, including the premiere of Johann Strauss' "The Blue Danube," the opening ceremony for India's Parliament House in New Delhi and the discovery of the universe's largest known diamond, check out OnThatDay.
Charles Darwin entered the world on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury. His father, Robert Darwin, a prosperous local doctor, was a stern and critical figure in his life. Darwin's mother, Susannah Wedgwood, hailed from the renowned Wedgwood pottery family, with her father being Josiah Wedgwood. Additionally, Darwin's grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, a multifaceted figure known for his roles as a naturalist, poet, and philosopher, who had proposed his own theory of evolution. During his youth, Darwin's fascination with chemistry earned him the playful nickname "Gas" among his friends.
Coincidentally, on the same day and year, February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring farm in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Lincoln, the first president born outside of the original 13 colonies, grew up in a frontier family with his father, Thomas, working as a farmer. Despite a lifelong belief that he was illegitimate, it was only discovered after his death that Lincoln was indeed legitimate.
Alice Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's only child from his first marriage, was born on February 12, 1884. Known as Alice Lee Roosevelt, she became a prominent figure in Washington, D.C., often described as the toast of the town. When questioned about controlling his spirited daughter, Roosevelt remarked that he could either be President of the United States or control Alice, but not both. At the age of 16, Alice inspired the creation of the song "Alice-Blue Gown," leading to the term "Alice Blue" representing a light bluish-green color.
For more February 12 anniversaries, including the founding of the US state of Georgia, the premiere of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and Christian Dior's "New Look" fashion collection, check out OnThatDay.
Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. His father Samuel, a shingle maker, was involved in a plot to overthrow the Canadian government but he managed to flee back to the USA. (Thomas was named after the barge captain Alva Bradley who helped smuggle his family to Milan, Ohio). With 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, he is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history. His inventions included the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.
Charles Darwin entered the world on February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury. His father, Robert Darwin, a prosperous local doctor, was a stern and critical figure in his life. Darwin's mother, Susannah Wedgwood, hailed from the renowned Wedgwood pottery family, with her father being Josiah Wedgwood. Additionally, Darwin's grandfather was Erasmus Darwin, a multifaceted figure known for his roles as a naturalist, poet, and philosopher, who had proposed his own theory of evolution. During his youth, Darwin's fascination with chemistry earned him the playful nickname "Gas" among his friends.
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Painting of seven-year-old Charles Darwin in 1816. |
Coincidentally, on the same day and year, February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born in a humble one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring farm in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Lincoln, the first president born outside of the original 13 colonies, grew up in a frontier family with his father, Thomas, working as a farmer. Despite a lifelong belief that he was illegitimate, it was only discovered after his death that Lincoln was indeed legitimate.
Alice Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's only child from his first marriage, was born on February 12, 1884. Known as Alice Lee Roosevelt, she became a prominent figure in Washington, D.C., often described as the toast of the town. When questioned about controlling his spirited daughter, Roosevelt remarked that he could either be President of the United States or control Alice, but not both. At the age of 16, Alice inspired the creation of the song "Alice-Blue Gown," leading to the term "Alice Blue" representing a light bluish-green color.
For more February 12 anniversaries, including the founding of the US state of Georgia, the premiere of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" and Christian Dior's "New Look" fashion collection, check out OnThatDay.
Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847 and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. His father Samuel, a shingle maker, was involved in a plot to overthrow the Canadian government but he managed to flee back to the USA. (Thomas was named after the barge captain Alva Bradley who helped smuggle his family to Milan, Ohio). With 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, he is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history. His inventions included the light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera.
American physicist Lawrence Harding "Larry" Johnston was born on February 11, 1918. He was the only man to witness all three atomic explosions in 1945: the Trinity nuclear test and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
For more February 11 anniversaries, including the first use of Anthracite coal as a residential heating fuel, the initial first-class cricket match in Australia and the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, check out OnThatDay
William Bradley known more commonly as Giant Bradley or the Yorkshire Giant, was born on February 10, 1787. By 18, he had shot up to 7ft 8in (233 cms). His teachers punished naughty boys by making Bradley lift them up and put them on high ceiling beams in the classroom until they learned their lesson.
William Bradley known more commonly as Giant Bradley or the Yorkshire Giant, was born on February 10, 1787. By 18, he had shot up to 7ft 8in (233 cms). His teachers punished naughty boys by making Bradley lift them up and put them on high ceiling beams in the classroom until they learned their lesson.
William Bradley aged 18 and half years. Wikipedia Commoms |
French magician Alexander Herrmann, also known as Herrmann the Great, was born on February 10, 1844. The model for the look of a 'typical' magician—a man with wavy hair, a top hat, a goatee, and a tailcoat—came from him.
Doctor Zhivago author Boris Pasternak was born into a wealthy assimilated Ukrainian Jewish family in Moscow, Russia on February 10, 1890. His father was the Post-Impressionist artist, Leonid Pasternak, professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. Leonid Pasternak was a friend of Leo Tolstoy, and for months he lived in Yasnaya Polyana, and painted many portraits of the great writer, also illustrating his novels War and Peace and Resurrection.
For more February 10 anniversaries, including the murder of Mary Queen of Scot's second husband The Earl of Darnley, the launch of the first dreadnought and the marriage of Bob Marley to Rita Anderson, check out OnThatDay.
English-American philosopher, author, and activist Thomas Paine was born on February 9, 1737 in a cottage in Thetford, a town in Norfolk, England to Quaker corset maker Joseph and Frances Pain. After emigrating to The American colonies in 1774, he authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), which helped inspire the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. Paine's Rights of Man (1791), was in part a defense of the French Revolution against its critics.
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the US, was born on February 9, 1773, the youngest of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett's seven children. William's father was a planter and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777) who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was Governor of Virginia between 1781 and 1784. Harrison caught pneumonia after giving the longest inauguration speech on record, in cold snowy weather. He died after only 32 days in office.
English-American philosopher, author, and activist Thomas Paine was born on February 9, 1737 in a cottage in Thetford, a town in Norfolk, England to Quaker corset maker Joseph and Frances Pain. After emigrating to The American colonies in 1774, he authored Common Sense (1776) and The American Crisis (1776–1783), which helped inspire the patriots in 1776 to declare independence from Great Britain. Paine's Rights of Man (1791), was in part a defense of the French Revolution against its critics.
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Oil painting by Laurent Dabos, circa 1791 |
William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the US, was born on February 9, 1773, the youngest of Benjamin Harrison V and Elizabeth Bassett's seven children. William's father was a planter and a delegate to the Continental Congress (1774–1777) who signed the Declaration of Independence. He was Governor of Virginia between 1781 and 1784. Harrison caught pneumonia after giving the longest inauguration speech on record, in cold snowy weather. He died after only 32 days in office.
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley was born on February 9, 1865. One of the first known photographers of snowflakes, he perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet in such a way that their images could be captured before they either melted or sublimated. Wilson Bentley took the first ever photograph of a snowflake in 1885.
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Snowflake photos by Bentley, circa 1902 |
For more February 9 anniversaries, including the completion of Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper painting, the marriage of Peter The Great to his second wife, Catherine Skavronskaya and the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, check out OnThatDay.
James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana, United States on February 8, 1931. When Dean was six his family moved to California, but his mother died of cancer when he was nine, and he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, he became interested in drama and car racing. After graduating, he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother and became an actor. He became an icon of the disillusioned teenager in such movies as Rebel Without a Cause before dying in a 1955 car crash.
James Dean was born in Marion, Indiana, United States on February 8, 1931. When Dean was six his family moved to California, but his mother died of cancer when he was nine, and he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. In high school, he became interested in drama and car racing. After graduating, he moved back to California to live with his father and stepmother and became an actor. He became an icon of the disillusioned teenager in such movies as Rebel Without a Cause before dying in a 1955 car crash.
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Dean in Rebel Without a Cause |
The composer John Williams was born on February 8, 1932, in Flushing, Queens, New York, Williams
has composed the scores to more than 100 films, including Jaws, the Star Wars movies and Schindler’s List. He is the world’s most successful film soundtrack composer and, with 52 Academy Award nominations, second to Walt Disney as the most-nominated person. (He has won five.)
For more February 8 anniversaries, including the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, the formation of the world's first independent payment card company and the longest surgery ever, check out OnThatDay.
English lawyer and politician Thomas More was born in Milk Street in London, on February 7, 1478. He was the eldest son of Sir John More, a successful lawyer who served as a judge in the King's Bench court. In his early teens Thomas entered the household of Cardinal Morton as a page who predicted young Thomas would be a "marvelous man." A lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, More served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor for three years. He was beheaded for treason after he openly opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church.
English lawyer and politician Thomas More was born in Milk Street in London, on February 7, 1478. He was the eldest son of Sir John More, a successful lawyer who served as a judge in the King's Bench court. In his early teens Thomas entered the household of Cardinal Morton as a page who predicted young Thomas would be a "marvelous man." A lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, More served Henry VIII as Lord Chancellor for three years. He was beheaded for treason after he openly opposed the King's separation from the Catholic Church.
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Hans Holbein, the Younger - Sir Thomas More |
Charles Dickens was born at 393 Commercial Road, Portsea, near Portsmouth on February 7, 1812. His father John Dickens was a naval pay clerk at Chatham, Kent when Charles was young. A friendly man, he had an inability to keep out of debt and debtors prison. His mother, Elizabeth, spent time in debtor's prison as well. Charles was fonder of his easy going father than his unsympathetic practical mother. He based Mr Micawber on his father and Mrs Nickleby on his mother.
Country star Garth Brooks was born on February 7, 1962. His actual first name is Troyal (Garth is his middle name), the same first name as his father's. Brooks went to Oklahoma State University on a javelin throwing scholarship and earned a bachelor's degree in advertising in 1985, He signed with Capitol Records on June 17, 1988 launching one of the most successful music careers of all time.
For more February 7 anniversaries, including the first American city with gas streetlights, the marriage of Amelia Earhart to publisher George P. Putnam, and the world record for flight endurance, check out OnThatDay.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 at 216 Emory Street in the Pigtown section of Baltimore, Maryland. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory where he learned baseball skills from Brother Matthias Boutlier of the Christian Brothers, a capable baseball player. Revered by many as the greatest baseball player of all time, he set career records for career home runs (714), runs batted in (RBIs) (2,213), bases on balls (2,062), and slugging percentage (.690). The last one still stands.
For more February 7 anniversaries, including the first American city with gas streetlights, the marriage of Amelia Earhart to publisher George P. Putnam, and the world record for flight endurance, check out OnThatDay.
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 at 216 Emory Street in the Pigtown section of Baltimore, Maryland. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory where he learned baseball skills from Brother Matthias Boutlier of the Christian Brothers, a capable baseball player. Revered by many as the greatest baseball player of all time, he set career records for career home runs (714), runs batted in (RBIs) (2,213), bases on balls (2,062), and slugging percentage (.690). The last one still stands.
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Ruth in his first year with the New York Yankees, 1920 |
Ronald Reagan, the 40th US President, was born to Jack and Nelle Reagan on February 6, 1911 in a small apartment building in Tampico, Illinois. A film star during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Reagan was very active in politics near the end of his acting career, During the 1964 presidential election, he made a famous speech called "A Time For Choosing" in support of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, which is credited with jumpstarting his political career.
For more February 6 birthdays including Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Adolf Hitler's longtime companion Eva Braun, and reggae star Bob Marley, check out OnThatDay.
The Scottish surgeon William Smellie was born on February 5, 1697. Smellie published his book, Theory and Practice or Treatise on Midwifery in 1752, in which he established safe rules for the use of forceps (of which he introduced several types). The work was the first scientific approach to midwifery.
The Scottish surgeon William Smellie was born on February 5, 1697. Smellie published his book, Theory and Practice or Treatise on Midwifery in 1752, in which he established safe rules for the use of forceps (of which he introduced several types). The work was the first scientific approach to midwifery.
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William Smellie |
Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835 and 1841–1846), was born at Chamber Hall, Bury, Lancashire on February 5, 1788. On hearing the news of the birth of his son, the cotton industrialist, Sir Robert Peel fell on his knees and, returning thanks to God, vowed that he would give his son to his country. The younger Robert Peel grew up to be one of Britain's leading politicians of the nineteenth century.
For more February 5 birthdays including inventor Hiram Maxim who invented the world's first portable fully automatic machine gun, John Boyd Dunlop, the founder of the Dunlop Rubber Co, and the footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, check out OnThatDay.
The German chemist Johann Friedrich Böttger was born on February 4, 1682. He was the first European to discover the ancient Chinese secret of the creation of hard-paste porcelain in 1708. Production began the following year and the first pieces went on sale at the Leipzig Easter Fair in 1710.
The German chemist Johann Friedrich Böttger was born on February 4, 1682. He was the first European to discover the ancient Chinese secret of the creation of hard-paste porcelain in 1708. Production began the following year and the first pieces went on sale at the Leipzig Easter Fair in 1710.
Charles Lindbergh was born on February 4, 1902 in his grandfather’s home in Detroit, Michigan. He was the only child of Charles August Lindbergh, a lawyer and later an U.S. congressman and Evangeline Lodgehand, a pretty chemistry teacher. Charles grew up on the family farm in Little Falls, Minnesota on the banks of the Mississippi. Friendless and self absorbed, he hunted, fished and had a special interest in machinery. He grew up to become a famous aviator who made the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic in 1927.
For more February 4 anniversaries, including the election of George Washington as the US's first president, the break out of The Philippine–American War, and the first radioactive element to be made synthetically, check out OnThatDay.
German pianist and composer Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809, a grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Young Felix studied piano and composition in Berlin, making his first public appearance at the age of nine. During his boyhood young Mendelssohn wrote many compositions. Among his early successes was the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (1826). when he was just seventeen.
German pianist and composer Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany, on February 3, 1809, a grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Young Felix studied piano and composition in Berlin, making his first public appearance at the age of nine. During his boyhood young Mendelssohn wrote many compositions. Among his early successes was the Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (1826). when he was just seventeen.
For more February 3 anniversaries, including the marriage of Ivan the Terrible to Anastasia Romanovna, the first paper money in the Americas, and the The Day the Music Died, check out OnThatDay.
Nell Gwyn was said to have born at Hereford on February 2, 1650 at Gwynne Street. (London and Oxford also claim her as their own). Described by Samuel Pepys as "pretty, witty Nell", in 1665 Nell Gwyn soon achieved prominent recognition as a comic actress, appearing as Flydana in Dryden's Indian Emperor. While walking in St James’ Park, King Charles II spotted Nell and was immediately captivated. By now a single mother, her relationship with the English king provoked juicy gossip.
Nell Gwyn was said to have born at Hereford on February 2, 1650 at Gwynne Street. (London and Oxford also claim her as their own). Described by Samuel Pepys as "pretty, witty Nell", in 1665 Nell Gwyn soon achieved prominent recognition as a comic actress, appearing as Flydana in Dryden's Indian Emperor. While walking in St James’ Park, King Charles II spotted Nell and was immediately captivated. By now a single mother, her relationship with the English king provoked juicy gossip.
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Nell Gwyn by Peter Lely c 1675 |
The Irish author James Joyce was born on February 2, 1882 to John Stanislaus Joyce and Mary Jane "May" Murray, at 41 Brighton Square, in the Dublin suburb of Rathgar. Joyce's ineffectual father was the model for the character of Simon Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses, as well as several characters in Dubliners.
For more February 2 anniversaries, including the founding of Buenos Aires, the marriage of Mark Twain to Olivia "Livy" Langdon and the founding of Baseball's National League, check out OnThatDay.
Hollywood actor Clark Gable was born William Clark Gable on February 1, 1901 in Cadiz to William Henry "Will" Gable an oil-well driller and Adeline (née Hershelman). He was named William after his father, but even in childhood he was almost always called Clark. At seventeen, Gable was inspired to be an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise. He had roles in more than 60 movies in multiple genres, three decades of which was as a leading man, most famously as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
Hollywood actor Clark Gable was born William Clark Gable on February 1, 1901 in Cadiz to William Henry "Will" Gable an oil-well driller and Adeline (née Hershelman). He was named William after his father, but even in childhood he was almost always called Clark. At seventeen, Gable was inspired to be an actor after seeing the play The Bird of Paradise. He had roles in more than 60 movies in multiple genres, three decades of which was as a leading man, most famously as Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
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Clark Gable |
President of Russia Boris Yeltsin was born in Butka, a small village near the Ural Mountains on February 1, 1931. The priest at young his christening was so drunk that he dropped baby Boris into the font then forgot he was there. The first President of Russia from 1990 to 1999, Yeltsin took control after the fall of the Soviet Union.
For more February 1 anniversaries, including the marriage of French novelist Alexandre Dumas to actress Ida Ferrier, completion of the construction of the first film production studio and the most-watched American television program of all time, check out OnThatDay.
Austrian pianist and composer Franz Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria on January 31, 1797. He was born in a one room apartment of a house called The Red Crayfish, now a museum at Nussdorf Erstrasse 54 Vienna. Young Franz showed an extraordinary childhood aptitude for music and learnt to play the piano, violin and viola, the latter he played in the family string quartet.
Austrian pianist and composer Franz Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna, Archduchy of Austria on January 31, 1797. He was born in a one room apartment of a house called The Red Crayfish, now a museum at Nussdorf Erstrasse 54 Vienna. Young Franz showed an extraordinary childhood aptitude for music and learnt to play the piano, violin and viola, the latter he played in the family string quartet.
For more January 31 anniversaries, including the first American soldier to be executed for desertion since the Civil War, the launch of the first American satellite, and the world’s longest ever reigning female ruler, check out OnThatDay.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, Duchess County, New York. His father, James Roosevelt (1828–1900), was a wealthy landowner and vice-president of the Delaware & Hudson Railway. Franklin grew up in an atmosphere of privilege. He went ice boating and tobogganing in the winter and during the summer, Franklin fished and sailed in his father’s boat and bird watched.
For more January 30 anniversaries, including the beheading of King Charles I of England, the opening of the world's first modern suspension bridge and the last public performance of The Beatles, check out OnThatDay.
The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, Jr. was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh child of William and Nancy (née Allison) McKinley. William McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War, beginning as a private in the Union Army. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on February 7, 1863 and ended the war as a brevet major. After the war, McKinley settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, Duchess County, New York. His father, James Roosevelt (1828–1900), was a wealthy landowner and vice-president of the Delaware & Hudson Railway. Franklin grew up in an atmosphere of privilege. He went ice boating and tobogganing in the winter and during the summer, Franklin fished and sailed in his father’s boat and bird watched.
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FDR's birthplace By Anthony22 at English Wikipedia |
For more January 30 anniversaries, including the beheading of King Charles I of England, the opening of the world's first modern suspension bridge and the last public performance of The Beatles, check out OnThatDay.
The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, Jr. was born on January 29, 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh child of William and Nancy (née Allison) McKinley. William McKinley was the last president to have served in the American Civil War, beginning as a private in the Union Army. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on February 7, 1863 and ended the war as a brevet major. After the war, McKinley settled in Canton, Ohio, where he practiced law and married Ida Saxton.