May 19
Birthdays:
1966 ~ Jodi Picoult (née Jodi Lynn Picoult), American novelist. She was born in Nesconset, New York.
1959 ~ Nicole Brown Simpson (née Nicole Brown; d. June 12, 1994), former wife of O.J. Simpson and murder victim. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany. She was killed less than a month after her 35th birthday in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California.
1951 ~ Joey Ramone (né Jeffrey Ross Hyman; d. Apr. 15, 2001), American musician. He was born in Queens, New York. He died in Manhattan, New York of lymphoma about a month before his 50th birthday.
1949 ~ Dusty Hill (né Joe Michael Hill; d. July 28, 2021), American long-bearded bassist who gave ZZ Top its rumble. He was born in Dallas, Texas. He died in Houston, Texas at age 72.
1948 ~ Grace Jones (née Grace Beverly Jones), Jamaican singer-songwriter.
1946 ~ André the Giant (né André René Roussimoff; d. Jan. 27, 1993), French professional wrestler and actor. He stood 7 feet, 4 inches. He was best known for his role as Fezzik in The Princess Bride. He died of congestive heart failure at age 46 in Paris, France.
1945 ~ Pete Townshend (né Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend), English musician and band member of The Who. He was born in Chiswick, England.
1944 ~ Peter Mayhew (né Peter William Mayhew; d. Apr. 30, 2019), English-American actor and gentle giant who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. He was 7 ft. 3 inches. He was born in Barnes, Surrey, England. He died at age 74 in Boyd, Texas.
1943 ~ Kathy Boudin (d. May 1, 2022), American left-wing activist who joined a fatal robbery. She was a member of the Weather Underground and was convicted of felony murder for her role in the 1981 Brink’s robbery. She was paroled in 2003 and became an adjunct professor at Columbia University. She was born and died in New York, New York. She died of cancer 18 days before her 79th birthday.
1941 ~ Nora Ephron (d. June 26, 2012), American filmmaker, writer and journalist whose wit defined an era. She was born and died in New York, New York. She died of leukemia at age 71.
1939 ~ Dick Scobee (né Francis Richard Scobee; d. Jan. 28, 1986), American commander who was killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster over the Atlantic Ocean. He was born in Cle Elum, Washington. He was 46 years old at the time of his death.
1934 ~ Jim Lehrer (né James Charles Lehrer; d. Jan. 23, 2020), American journalist. He was the news anchor for the PBS NewsHour. He was straight-forward and shunned showmanship. He was born in Wichita, Kansas. He died at age 85 in Washington, D.C PBS NewsHour. He was born in Wichita, Kansas. He died at age 85 in Washington, D.C.
1930 ~ Lorraine Hansberry (née Lorraine Vivian Hansberry; d. Jan. 12, 1965), African-American playwright. She is best known for her play, A Raisin in the Sun. She was the first female African-American to have a play performed on Broadway. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. She died of pancreatic cancer at age 34 in New York, New York.
1927 ~ Serge Lang (d. Sept. 12, 2005), French-born American mathematician. At the time of his death, he was a professor emeritus at Yale University. He was born in Paris, France. He died at age 78 in Berkeley, California.
1925 ~ Malcolm X (né Malcolm Little; d. Feb. 21, 1965), Black American Muslim leader who was assassinated in New York, New York. by other members of the Nation of Islam. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He was age 39 at the time of his assassination.
1925 ~ Pol Pot (né Saloth Sâr; d. Apr. 15, 1998), Cambodian dictator. His administration perpetuated the Cambodian genocide. He died at age 72 under mysterious circumstances.
1923 ~ Georgi Arbatov (d. Oct. 1, 2010), Soviet-Russian political scientist. He was born in Kherson, Ukraine. He died at age 87 in Moscow, Russia.
1920 ~ Tina Strobos (née Tineke Buchter; d. Feb. 27, 2012), Dutch physician and psychologist who saved dozens of Jews during World War II. A secret compartment had been built into her attic as a hiding place for Jews. She worked with the resistance and was able to get passports and other documents so Jews could leave the country. She and her mother are recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Vad Vashem in Jerusalem. She was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She died at age 91 in Rye, New York.
1914 ~ Max Perutz (né Max Ferdinand Perutz; d. Feb. 6, 2002), Austrian-born English biologist and recipient of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. He died at age 87 in Cambridge, England.
1909 ~ Sir Nicholas Winton (né Nicholas George Wertheim; d. July 1, 2015), British humble hero who saved children from the Nazis. He organized the Kindertransport and saved nearly 700 Czech children. He was born in London, England. He died at age 106.
1903 ~ Ruth Ella Moore (d. July 19, 1994), African-American bacteriologist. In 1993, she became the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the natural sciences. She became the head of the Department of Bacteriology at Howard University. She was born in Columbus, Ohio. She died at age 91 in Rockville, Maryland.
1890 ~ Hô Chí Minh (d. Sept. 2, 1969), 1st President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He assumed the Office of 1St President of the Democratic Republic Of Vietnam on his 55th birthday. He served in this Office from September 1945 until his death 24 years later. He died at age 79 in Hanoi, North Vietnam.
1886 ~ Francis Biddle (né Francis Beverley Biddle; d. Oct. 4, 1968), 58th Attorney General. He served under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S Truman during World War II from August 1941 until June 1945. He had previously served as the 24th United States Solicitor General from January 1940 until August 1941. Prior to that, he had served as a Federal Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He also served as the primary judge at the Nuremberg Trials. He was born in Paris, France. He died in Wellfleet, Massachusetts at age 82.
1881 ~ Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (d. Nov. 10, 1938), 1st President of Turkey. He brought Turkey into modernity. He died at age 57 following a long illness in Istanbul, Turkey.
1879 ~ Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (née Nancy Witcher Langhorne; d. May 2, 1964), American socialite and British politician. She moved to England at age 26. Her second husband was Waldorf Astor. She became the first woman Member of Parliament. She was born in Danville, Virginia. She died 17 days before her 85th birthday in the United Kingdom.
1876 ~ Wilson Mizner (d. Apr. 3, 1933), American playwright. He was born in Benicia, California. He died at age 56 in Los Angeles, California.
1861 ~ Dame Nellie Melba (née Helen Porter Mitchell; d. Feb. 23, 1931), Australian soprano and actress. She took the pseudonym “Melba” from her hometown of Melbourne, Australia. She was born in Richmond, Victoria, Australia. She died at age 69.
1795 ~ Johns Hopkins (d. Dec. 24, 1873), American businessman, abolitionist, and philanthropist. Johns Hopkins University was one of the beneficiaries of his will. He was born in Gambrills, Maryland. He died at age 78 in Baltimore, Maryland.
1744 ~ Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. Nov. 17, 1818), Queen consort of Great Britain and German wife of George III, King of the United Kingdom (1738 ~ 1820). They married in 1761. They were married for 57 years and had 15 children, including Geroge IV, King of England. She was of the House of Meckleburg. She was the daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg and Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hilbrughausen. She died at age 74.
1476 ~ Helena of Moscow (d. Jan. 20, 1513), Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania and Queen consort of Poland. She was the uncrown Duchess and Queen because she refused to convert from Eastern Orthodox to Catholicism upon her marriage. She was married to Alexander Jagiellon (1461 ~ 1506), Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland. She was of the Rurik dynasty. She was the daughter of Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, also known as Ivan the Great, and Sophia Palaiologina. She died at age 36.
Events that Changed the World:
2022 ~ The first verified case of monkeypox in the United States this year was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control.
2018 ~ England’s Prince Henry (b. 1984) married American divorcée Meghan Markle (b. 1981). Following their wedding, they became known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
2016 ~ EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea while traveling from Paris to Cairo. There were no survivors; all 66 individuals on the plane were killed. In April 2022, an investigation concluded that the crash was the result of a cockpit fire caused by an oxygen leak combustion ignited by one of the pilot’s cigarettes.
2001 ~ The first two Apple Stores opened. One was in Tysons Corner, Virginia and the other was in Glendale, California.
1962 ~ In a birthday salute to United States President John F. Kennedy (1917 ~ 1963), which took place in Madison Square Garden, Marilyn Monroe (1926 ~ 1962) gave her iconic and breathy rendition of Happy Birthday.
1950 ~ Egypt closed the Suez Canal to Israeli ships and commerce.
1921 ~ The United States Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, which established national quotas on immigration into the United States.
1911 ~ Parks Canada, the world’s first national park agency, was formed. The agency manages Canada’s 48 National Parks.
1828 ~ United States’ President John Quincy Adams (1767 ~ 1848) signed the Tariff of 1828 into law, thereby protecting the wool manufacturers in the United States.
1743 ~ Jean-Pierre Christin (1683 ~ 1755) developed the centigrade temperature scale.
1649 ~ An Act of Parliament declared England a Commonwealth through the enactment of the Long Parliament. For the next 11 years, England would be a republic.
1588 ~ The Spanish Armada set out for England, where it was ultimately defeated.
1536 ~ Anne Boleyn (1500s ~ 1536), Queen consort of England and second wife of Henry VIII, King of England, was beheaded after being convicted of adultery, treason, and incest.
1499 ~ Infanta Catherine of Aragon (1485 ~ 1536) was married by proxy to Arthur Tudor (1486 ~ 1502), Prince of Wales. She was 13 years old, and he was 12 years old. He was first in line to become king of England, but upon his death, Catherine married his brother who would become Henry VIII, King of England (1491 ~ 1547).
1051 ~ Henry I, King of France (1008 ~ 1060) married Anne of Kiev (1030 ~ 1075). She was his second wife.
Good-Byes:
2021 ~ Paul Mooney (né Paul Gladney; b. Aug. 4, 1941), African-American fearless comic who smashed racial taboos. He was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He died of a heart attack at age 79 in Oakland, California.
2020 ~ Charles Lippincott (né Charles Myers Lippincott, Jr.; b. Oct. 28, 1939), American publicist who helped create the Star Wars phenomenon. He was born in Adams, Massachusetts. He died at age 80 in Vermont.
1920 ~ Annie Glenn (née Anna Margaret Castor; b. Feb. 19, 1920), American wife of astronaut and United States Senator, John Glenn. She overcame a chronic stutter in the 1970s and became an outspoken campaigner for others suffering from speech disorders. She was born in Columbus, Ohio. She died at age 100 in Saint Paul, Minnesota of complications from Covid-19.
2018 ~ Bernard Lewis (b. May 31, 1916), British-American historian and scholar who shaped Western views on Islam. He was born in London, England. He died 12 days before his 102nd birthday in Voorhees Township, New Jersey.
2017 ~ Stanislav Petrov (né Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov; b. Sept. 7, 1939), Soviet missile defense officer who averted a nuclear war. In 1983, alarm bells rang, but Petrov doubted the reliability of the anti-missile system, believing it to be a false alarm. He did nothing and did not activate Soviet missiles pointed towards the United States. He died at age 77
2016 ~ Morley Safer (b. Nov. 8, 1931), Canadian-American urbane journalist and newsman who shone on 60 Minutes. He is best known for his long tenure on 60 Minutes, where he worked for nearly 36 years. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He died of pneumonia in New York, New York at age 84 just 1 week after his retirement from 60 Minutes.
2016 ~ Alan Young (né Angus Young; b. Nov. 19, 1919), English-born Canadian-American actor and television personality. He was best known for his role as Wilber Post, the actor who conversed with Mister Ed on the television sit-com that ran from 1961 to 1966. He died at age 96 in Woodland Hills, California.
2015 ~ Happy Rockefeller (née Margaretta Large Fitler; b. June 9, 1926), American socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, making her the Second Lady of the United States. She was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She died 21 days before her 89th birthday in Pocantico Hills, New York.
2011 ~ Tom West (né Joseph Thomas West; b. Nov. 22, 1939), American businessman who put the soul in a new machine. He was the subject of Tracy Kidder’s The Soul of a New Machine. He was a famous computer engineer. He was born in New York, New York. He died of a heart attack at age 71 in Westport, Massachusetts.
2009 ~ Herbert York (né Herbert Frank York; b. Nov. 24, 1921), American physicist and atomic scientist who tried to curb the use of atomic arms. He was born in Rochester, New York. He died at age 87 in San Diego, California.
2009 ~ Robert F. Furchgott (né Robert Francis Furchgott; b. June 4, 1916), American biochemist and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He died 16 days before his 93rd birthday in Seattle, Washington.
2002 ~ Walter Lord (né John Walter Lord, Jr.; b. Oct. 8, 1917), American writer, best known for his book, A Night to Remember, about the sinking of the Titanic. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He died at age 84 in Manhattan, New York.
1994 ~ Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (née Jacqueline Lee Bouvier; b. July 28, 1929), 37th First Lady and wife of President John F. Kennedy. She was born in Southampton, New York. She died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at age 64 in New York, New York.
1971 ~ Ogden Nash (né Frederic Ogden Nash; b. Aug. 19, 1902), American poet. He is best known for writing humorous poems. He was born in Rye, New York. He died at age 68 of complications from Crohn’s disease in Baltimore, Maryland.
1954 ~ Charles Ives (né Charles Edward Ives; b. Oct. 20, 1874), American composer. He was born in Danbury, Connecticut. He died at age 79 in New York, New York.
1946 ~ Booth Tarkington (né Newton Booth Tarkington; b. July 29, 1869), American novelist. He is best known for his novel The Magnificent Ambersons. He was born and died in Indianapolis, Indiana. He died at age 76.
1935 ~ T.E. Lawrence (né Thomas Edward Lawrence, b. Aug. 16, 1888), British army officer and writer. He was known as Lawrence of Arabia. He died at age 46 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
1921 ~ Edward Douglass White, Jr. (b. Nov. 3, 1845), 9th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was initially nominated to the High Court as an Associate Supreme Court Justice by President Grover Cleveland. He served as an Associated Justice from March 1894 until December 1910, when he was promoted to become the Chief Justice. He served in that position until his death 10 years later. He initially replaced Samuel Blatchford on the Court. This seat was filled by Willis Van Devanter when White became the Chief Justice. He replaced Melville Fuller as Chief Justice. William Howard Taft succeeded him as Chief Justice. He died in Office. He was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He died at age 75 in Washington, D.C.
1898 ~ William Gladstone (né William Ewart Gladstone; b. Dec. 29, 1809), Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was one of Britain’s most beloved and respected Prime Ministers. He served several terms as Prime Minister, both during the term of Queen Victoria. He died at age 88.
1864 ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne (b. July 4, 1804), American author. He is best known for his novel, The Scarlett Letter. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts and died in Plymouth, New Hampshire. He died at age 59.
1795 ~ James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (b. Oct. 29, 1740), Scottish biographer of his contemporary and literary figure, Samuel Johnson. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He died at age 54 in London, England.
1795 ~ Josiah Bartlett (b. Dec. 2, 1729), Governor of New Hampshire. He served in Office from June 1790 until June 1794. He was born before the implementation of the Gregorian calendar, so his birthday is sometimes given as November 21, 1729, under the Julian calendar, or December 2 under the Gregorian calendar. He was born in what is now Amesbury, province of Massachusetts Bay, British America. He died at age 65 in Kingston, New Hampshire.
1536 ~ Anne Boleyn (b. 1501), Queen consort of English and second wife of Henry VIII, King of England (1491 ~ 1547). They married in 1533. The marriage was annulled in 1536. She was beheaded after being convicted of treason and adultery. She was of the House of Boleyn. She was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire and Elizabeth Howard. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she is believed to have been between 28 and 35 at the time of her execution.
1396 ~ John I, King of Aragon (b. Dec. 27, 1350). He reigned from January 1387 until his death on May 9 years later. After his death, he became known as John the Hunter. He married twice, first to Martha of Armagnac (1347 ~1378). They married in 1373 when he was the Duke of Girona. After her death, he married Violant of Bar (1365 ~ 1431) in 1380. He was of the House of Barcelona. He was the son of Peter IV, King of Aragon and his 3rd wife, Eleanor of Sicily. He died from injuries sustained in a fall from his horse during a hunt. He was 45 years old at the time of his death.
1319 ~ Louis, Count of Évreux (b. May 3, 1276), member of the French royal family. He was married to Margaret of Artois (1285 ~ 1311). They were the parents of Philip III, King of Navarre. He was the founder of the House of Évreux. He was the son of Philip III, King of France and Marie of Brabant. He was Roman Catholic. He died 16 days after his 43rd birthday.
1296 ~ Pope Celestine V (né Pietro Angelerio; b. 1215). He served as Pope for only a few months, from July 1294 until December 1294, before he resigned his position, preferring to live the life of a hermit. It would be over 700 years before another Pope resigned from the position. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he is believed to have been about 81 at the time of his death.
1218 ~ Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1175). He ruled from as Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until 1215 when he was forced to abdicate. He The exact date of his birth is unknown. In 1210, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III who excommunicated him. After Otto lost in the Battle of Bouvines in 1215, most of his supporters abandoned him, leading to his forced ouster. He was married twice. His first wife was Beatrice of Swabia (1198 ~ 1212). They married in 1212. After her death, he married Maria of Barbant (1190 ~ 1260). They married in 1214. There were no children of either marriage. He was of the House of Welf. He was the son of Henry the Lion and Matilda of England. The exact date of his birth is not known, but he is believed to have been about 42 or 43 at the time of his death.
1102 ~ Stephen Henry, Count of Blois (b. 1045). In 1101, he joined the Crusade and was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. He was at the surrender of the city of Nicaea. In Jerusalem, he fought in the Second Battle of Ramla, where he was captured and ultimately executed. He was married to Adela of Normandy (1067 ~ 1137), the daughter of William the Conqueror. They were the parents of Stephen, King of England. He was of the Noble House of Blois. He was the son of Theobald III, Count of Blois and Garsinde du Maine. The exact date of his birth is unknown. He is believed to have been about 56 or 57 at the time of his death.
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