October 12, 2012 – Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac

Updated October 12, 2012, 2:29 pm

On Oct. 12, 1870, Gen. Robert E. Lee died in Lexington, Va., at age 63.

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On Oct. 12, 1860, Elmer Sperry, the American inventor best known for perfecting the use of gyroscopes, was born. Following his death on June 16, 1930, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

By The Associated Press

1810 The German festival Oktoberfest was first held in Munich to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

1935 Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy.

1960 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding a shoe on his desk.

1971 “Jesus Christ Superstar,” a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, opened on Broadway.

1973 President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.

1984 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a hotel in Brighton, England, killing five people.

1986 Superpower talks between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate.

1998 Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, died five days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie.

1999 Pakistan’s military overthrew the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

2000 Two al-Qaida suicide bombers in an explosives-laden boat rammed into the destroyer the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 sailors.

2002 A bomb destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people. Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida were blamed.

2007 Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming.

2011 A Nigerian al-Qaida operative pleaded guilty to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear minutes before the plane landed in Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. (Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was later sentenced to life in prison.)

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actor Hugh Jackman turns 44 years old today.

AP Photo/Charles Sykes

Golfer Cristie Kerr turns 35 years old today.

AP Photo/Gene Puskar

1946 Jake Garn, Former U.S. senator, R-Utah, turns 66

1932 Dick Gregory, Comedian, activist, turns 80

1935 Sam Moore, R&B singer (Sam and Dave), turns 77

1947 Chris Wallace, Broadcast journalist, turns 65

1948 John Engler, Former governor of Michigan, turns 64

1950 Susan Anton, Actress, turns 62

1968 Adam Rich, Actor (“Eight is Enough”), turns 44

1969 Martie Maguire, Country musician (Dixie Chicks), turns 43

1970 Kirk Cameron, Actor (“Growing Pains”), turns 42

1977 Bode Miller, U.S. Olympic skiier, turns 35

Historic Birthdays

Elmer Sperry 10/12/1860 – 6/16/1930 American engineer.Go to obituary »

15 Edward VI 10/12/1537 – 7/6/1553
English king (1547-53)

82 Johann Peter Melchior 10/12/1742 – 6/13/1825
German artist

73 Isaac Newton Lewis 10/12/1858 – 11/9/1931
American army officer and inventor

85 Ralph Vaughan Williams 10/12/1872 – 8/26/1958
English composer

85 Perle Mesta 10/12/1889 – 3/16/1975
American diplomat

50 Saint Edith Stein 10/12/1891 – 8/9,10/1942
German scholar and Carmelite nun; executed by Nazis because of Jewish background

71 Luciano Pavarotti 10/12/1935 – 9/6/2007
Italian singer whose ringing, pristine sound set a standard for operatic tenors of the postwar era

1810	The German festival Oktoberfest was first held in Munich to celebrate the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
1935	Opera singer Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy.
1960	Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev disrupted a U.N. General Assembly session by pounding a shoe on his desk.
1971	“Jesus Christ Superstar,” a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, opened on Broadway.
1973	President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford, R-Mich., to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president.
1984	British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a hotel in Brighton, England, killing five people.
1986	Superpower talks between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended in stalemate.
1998	Matthew Shepard, a gay student at University of Wyoming, died five days after he was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie.
1999	Pakistan’s military overthrew the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
2000	Two al-Qaida suicide bombers in an explosives-laden boat rammed into the destroyer the USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 sailors.
2002	A bomb destroyed a nightclub on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people. Islamic militants linked to al-Qaida were blamed.
2007	Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the Nobel Peace Prize for sounding the alarm over global warming.
2011	A Nigerian al-Qaida operative pleaded guilty to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear minutes before the plane landed in Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. (Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was later sentenced to life in prison.)

1946	Jake Garn, Former U.S. senator, R-Utah, turns 66
1932	Dick Gregory, Comedian, activist, turns 80
1935	Sam Moore, R&B singer (Sam and Dave), turns 77
1947	Chris Wallace, Broadcast journalist, turns 65
1948	John Engler, Former governor of Michigan, turns 64
1950	Susan Anton, Actress, turns 62
1968	Adam Rich, Actor (“Eight is Enough”), turns 44
1969	Martie Maguire, Country musician (Dixie Chicks), turns 43
1970	Kirk Cameron, Actor (“Growing Pains”), turns 42
1977	Bode Miller, U.S. Olympic skiier, turns 35

15	Edward VI 10/12/1537 – 7/6/1553 English king (1547-53)
82	Johann Peter Melchior 10/12/1742 – 6/13/1825 German artist
73	Isaac Newton Lewis 10/12/1858 – 11/9/1931 American army officer and inventor
85	Ralph Vaughan Williams 10/12/1872 – 8/26/1958 English composer
85	Perle Mesta 10/12/1889 – 3/16/1975 American diplomat
50	Saint Edith Stein 10/12/1891 – 8/9,10/1942 German scholar and Carmelite nun; executed by Nazis because of Jewish background
71	Luciano Pavarotti 10/12/1935 – 9/6/2007 Italian singer whose ringing, pristine sound set a standard for operatic tenors of the postwar era