Updated August 22, 2012, 2:28 pm
On Aug. 23, 1927, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.
On Aug. 23, 1912, Gene Kelly, the American dancer and choreographer, was born. Following his death on Feb. 2, 1996, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On This Date
By The Associated Press
1754 France’s King Louis XVI was born at Versailles. 1775 Britain’s King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion. 1912 Actor and dancer Gene Kelly was born in Pittsburgh. 1926 Silent film star Rudolph Valentino died at age 31. 1927 Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery. 1960 Broadway librettist Oscar Hammerstein II died at age 65. 1979 Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defected while the Bolshoi Ballet was on tour in New York. 1989 Yusuf Hawkins, an African-American teenager, was shot dead by white youths in Brooklyn. 2000 The first season finale of the reality show “Survivor” aired on CBS, with contestant Richard Hatch winning the $1 million prize. 2003 Former Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan, a convicted child molester, was killed by a fellow inmate in a Massachusetts prison. 2005 Israeli forces evicted militant holdouts from two Jewish settlements, completing a historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank. 2008 Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama introduced his choice of running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware. 2010 Golfer Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, divorced. 2011 Judges in New York put an end to the sensational sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, setting him free after prosecutors questioned the credibility of the hotel housekeeper who’d accused the French diplomat. Current Birthdays
By The Associated Press
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant turns 34 years old today.
AP Photo/Reed Saxon
Queen Noor of Jordan turns 61 years old today.
AP Photo/Jonathan Short
1928 Marian Seldes, Actress, turns 84 1930 Vera Miles, Actress, turns 82 1932 Mark Russell, Comedian, turns 80 1933 Pete Wilson, Former California governor, U.S. senator, turns 79 1934 Barbara Eden, Actress (“I Dream of Jeannie”), turns 78 1934 Sonny Jurgensen, Football Hall of Famer, turns 78 1940 Richard Sanders, Actor (“WKRP in Cincinnati”), turns 72 1947 Linda Thompson, Rock singer, turns 65 1949 Shelley Long, Actress (“Cheers”), turns 63 1949 Rick Springfield, Actor, singer, turns 63 1970 Jay Mohr, Actor, turns 42 1980 Joanne Froggatt, Actress (“Downton Abbey”), turns 32
Historic Birthdays
Gene Kelly 8/23/1912 – 2/2/1996 American dancer, actor, choreographer and director.Go to obituary »
65 Francois Hotman 8/23/1524 – 2/12/1590
French jurist and humanist scholar38 Louis XVI 8/23/1754 – 1/21/1793
French king; guillotined in French Revolution62 Georges, Baron Cuvier 8/23/1769 – 5/13/1832
French zoologist and statesman53 William Ernest Henley 8/23/1849 – 7/11/1903
English poet, critic and editor30 Arnold Toynbee 8/23/1852 – 3/9/1883
English economist and social reformer80 Edgar Lee Masters 8/23/1868 – 3/5/1950
American poet and novelist85 Jack Butler Yeats 8/23/1871 – 3/28/1957
Irish painter70 Jonathan Wainwright 8/23/1883 – 9/2/1953
American army general and World War II hero45 Constant Lambert 8/23/1905 – 8/21/1951
English composer, conductor and critic
