Updated August 19, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Aug. 19, 1934, a plebiscite in Germany approved the vesting of sole executive power in Adolf Hitler as Fuhrer.
On Aug. 19, 1883, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the influential French fashion designer, was born. Following her death on Jan. 10, 1971, her obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary #187; | Other birthdays #187;
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1929 The comedy “Amos ‘n’ Andy” made its network radio debut on NBC. 1960 A tribunal in Moscow convicted American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers of espionage. 1969 Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis began three days of recording sessions that yielded the album “Bitches Brew.” 1976 President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s national convention in Kansas City. 1977 Comedian Groucho Marx died at age 86. 1994 President Bill Clinton halted the nation’s three-decade open-door policy for Cuban refugees. 1996 A judge sentenced former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker to four years’ probation for his Whitewater crimes. 2004 The Internet search engine Google went public. 2005 A Texas jury found pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. liable for the death of a man who’d taken the once-popular painkiller Vioxx. 2010 A federal grand jury indicted retired baseball player Roger Clemens for allegedly lying to Congress about steroid use. (Clemens’ trial this year ended in a mistrial.) 2010 The last American combat brigade exited Iraq, seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion began. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Actor Matthew Perry (“Friends”) turns 43 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini
Actress Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer”) turns 47 years old today.
AP Photo/Vince Bucci
1939 Ginger Baker, Rock musician (Cream, Blind Faith), turns 73 1940 Jill St. John, Actress, turns 72 1942 Fred Thompson, Actor, former U.S. senator, R-Tenn., turns 70 1946 Bill Clinton, Former president, turns 66 1948 Jim Carter, Actor (“Downton Abbey”), turns 64 1948 Tipper Gore, Wife of former Vice President Al Gore, turns 64 1948 Gerald McRaney, Actor (“Major Dad”), turns 64 1953 Mary Matalin, Political consultant, turns 59 1955 Peter Gallagher, Actor, turns 57 1956 Adam Arkin, Actor, turns 56 1960 Morton Andersen, Football player, turns 52 1963 John Stamos, Actor (“Full House’), turns 49 1965 Kevin Dillon, Actor (“Entourage”), turns 47 1966 Lee Ann Womack, Country singer, turns 46 1967 Tabitha Soren, MTV reporter, turns 45 1970 Fat Joe, Rapper, turns 42 1975 Tracie Thoms, Actress (“Cold Case”), turns 37 1982 Erika Christensen, Actress, turns 30 1989 Romeo, Rapper, turns 23
Historic Birthdays
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel 8/19/1883 – 1/10/1971 French dress designer.Go to obituary »
73 John Flamsteed 8/19/1646 – 12/31/1719
English founder of the Greenwich Observatory50 Jeanne Becu du Barry 8/19/1743 – 12/8/1793
French mistress of Louis XV73 Seth Thomas 8/19/1785 – 1/29/1859
American clock manufacturer; pioneered mass production94 Bernard Baruch 8/19/1870 – 6/20/1965
American financier and adviser to United States presidents73 Georges Enesco 8/19/1881 – 5/4/1955
Romanian violinist and composer91 Ton Duc Thang 8/19/1888 – 3/30/1980
Vietnamese communist leader; succeeded Ho Chi Minh84 Alfred Lunt 8/19/1892 – 8/3/1977
American actor88 Colleen Moore 8/19/1900 – 1/25/1988
American actress68 Ogden Nash 8/19/1902 – 5/19/1971
American poet74 James Gould Cozzens 8/19/1903 – 8/9/1978
American novelist70 Gene Roddenberry 8/19/1921 – 10/24/1991
American creator of the Star Trek series
