Category: Uncategorized

Updated January 6, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 7, 1979, Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.

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On Jan. 7, 1873, Adolph Zukor, the American entrepreneur who built the Paramount movie empire, was born. Following his death on June 10, 1976, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date By The Associated Press

1800	Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States, was born in Summerhill, N.Y.
1927	Commercial transatlantic telephone service was inaugurated between New York and London.
1942	The World War II siege of Bataan began.
1953	President Harry S. Truman announced in his State of the Union address that the United States had developed a hydrogen bomb.
1955	Singer Marian Anderson made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, becoming the first black person to perform there as a member.
1959	The United States recognized Fidel Castro’s new government in Cuba.
1972	Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist were sworn in as the 99th and 100th members of the Supreme Court.
1979	Vietnamese forces captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge government.
1989	Japanese Emperor Hirohito died at age 87.
1996	A major blizzard paralyzed the eastern United States, claiming more than 100 lives.
1997	Newt Gingrich became the first Republican re-elected House speaker in 68 years.
1999	President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial began in the Senate.
2005	Actor Brad Pitt and actress Jennifer Aniston announced they were separating after four years of marriage.
2006	American journalist Jill Carroll was abducted in Iraq and a translator was killed. (Carroll was released unharmed after 82 days.)
2006	Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, facing corruption charges, stepped down as House majority leader.

Current Birthdays By The Associated Press

CBS News anchor Katie Couric turns 55 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., turns 49 years old today.

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

1938	Paul Revere, Rock musician, turns 74
1946	Jann Wenner, Magazine publisher (Rolling Stone), turns 66
1948	Kenny Loggins, Rock singer, turns 64
1956	David Caruso, Actor (“CSI: Miami”), turns 56
1961	John Thune, U.S. senator, R-S.D., turns 51
1964	Nicolas Cage, Actor, turns 48
1967	Nick Clegg, Deputy British prime minister, turns 45
1971	Jeremy Renner, Actor (“The Hurt Locker”), turns 41
1974	John Rich, Country musician (Big and Rich), turns 38
1976	Alfonso Soriano, Baseball player, turns 36

 

Historic Birthdays

Adolph Zukor 1/7/1873 – 6/10/1976 American entrepreneur.Go to obituary »

66	James Harrington 1/7/1611 – 9/11/1677 English political philosopher
63	Johann Christian Fabricius 1/7/1745 – 3/3/1808 Dutch entomologist
74	Millard Fillmore 1/7/1800 – 3/8/1874 13th president of the United States (1850-53)
35	Saint Bernadette of Lourdes 1/7/1844 – 4/16/1879 French nun
76	Herbert John Gladstone 1/7/1854 – 3/6/1930 English statesman
85	Émile Borel 1/7/1871 – 2/3/1956 French mathematician
64	Francis Poulenc 1/7/1899 – 1/30/1963 French composer
69	Aristotle Onassis 1/7/1906 (O.S.) – 3/15/1975 Greek shipping magnate
59	Henry Allen 1/7/1908 – 4/17/1967 American jazz musician
76	Charles Addams 1/7/1912 – 9/29/1988 American cartoonist

 

Updated January 5, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 6, 1919, the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60.

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On Jan. 6, 1882, Sam Rayburn, who served for more than 48 years in the U.S. House of Representatives (1913-61), was born. Following his death on Nov. 16, 1961, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date By The Associated Press

1412	According to tradition, Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, France.
1540	England’s King Henry VIII married his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
1759	George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married.
1838	Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrated his telegraph, in Morristown, N.J.
1912	New Mexico became the 47th state.
1919	Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, died in Oyster Bay, N.Y., at age 60.
1945	George H.W. Bush married Barbara Pierce in Rye, N.Y.
1993	Jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie died at age 75.
1994	Figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg in an assault planned by the ex-husband of her rival, Tonya Harding.
2001	With the vanquished Vice President Al Gore presiding, Congress certified Republican George W. Bush the winner of the close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election.
2005	Former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi. (Killen was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 60 years in prison.)

Current Birthdays By The Associated Press

Dancer-TV judge Carrie Ann Inaba (“Dancing with the Stars”) turns 44 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

TV host Julie Chen (“The Early Show,” “Big Brother”) turns 42 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

1921	Louis Harris, Pollster, turns 91
1924	Earl Scruggs, Bluegrass musician, turns 88
1931	E.L. Doctorow, Author, turns 81
1944	Bonnie Franklin, Actress (“One Day At A Time”), turns 68
1953	Malcolm Young, Rock musician (AC-DC), turns 59
1955	Rowan Atkinson, Actor, comedian (“Mr Bean” films), turns 57
1957	Nancy Lopez, Golfer, turns 55
1960	Howie Long, Football Hall of Famer, sportscaster, turns 52
1968	John Singleton, Director, turns 44
1981	Asante Samuel, Football player, turns 31

 

Historic Birthdays

Sam Rayburn 1/6/1882 – 11/16/1961 American Speaker of the HouseGo to obituary »

70	Martin Agricola 1/6/1486 – 6/10/1556 German composer and teacher
50	Jakob Bernoulli 1/6/1655 – 8/16/1705 Swiss mathematician
63	Charles Sumner 1/6/1811 – 3/11/1874 American Civil War statesman
68	Heinrich Schliemann 1/6/1822 – 12/26/1890 German-born Greek excavator
86	Victor Horta 1/6/1861 – 9/8/1947 Belgian architect
89	Carl Sandburg 1/6/1878 – 7/22/1967 American poet and novelist
67	Joseph Medill Patterson 1/6/1879 – 5/26/1946 American journalist and publisher
60	Tom Mix 1/6/1880 – 10/12/1940 American silent screen actor
48	Khalil Gibran 1/6/1883 – 4/10/1931 Lebanese-born American novelist and poet
88	Morris Wright 1/6/1910 – April/25/1998 American author

 

Updated January 4, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 5, 1914, Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, introduced a minimum wage scale of $5 per day.

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On Jan. 5, 1863, Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky, one of the greatest masters of Russian drama and a founder of the Moscow Art Theatre, was born. Following his death on Aug. 7, 1938, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1781	A British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burned Richmond, Va.
1896	The Austrian newspaper Wiener Presse reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen of a type of radiation that came to be known as an X-ray.
1933	Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, died in Northampton, Mass., at age 60.
1949	In his State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman labeled his domestic program the “Fair Deal.”
1970	The soap opera “All My Children” premiered on ABC-TV.
1972	President Richard Nixon ordered development of the space shuttle.
1973	Bruce Springsteen’s debut album, “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.,” was released.
1981	Police in England arrested Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of the “Yorkshire Ripper” murders of 13 women.
1994	Former House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill died in Boston at age 81.
2004	After 14 years of denials, Pete Rose publicly admitted that he’d bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds.
2011	Rep. John Boehner of Ohio was elected speaker as Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives on the first day of the new Congress.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actor Robert Duvall turns 81 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Actor Bradley Cooper turns 37 years old today.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles

1925	Lou Carnesecca, Hall of Fame basketball coach, turns 87
1928	Walter F. Mondale, Former vice president, turns 84
1932	Chuck Noll, Hall of Fame football coach, turns 80
1938	King Juan Carlos, King of Spain, turns 74
1942	Charlie Rose, Broadcast journalist, turns 70
1944	Ed Rendell, Former governor of Pennsylvania, turns 68
1946	Diane Keaton, Actress, turns 66
1948	Ted Lange, Actor (“The Love Boat”), turns 64
1953	Pamela Sue Martin, Actress (“Dynasty”), turns 59
1953	George Tenet, Former CIA director, turns 59
1954	Alex English, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 58
1969	Marilyn Manson, Rock singer, turns 43
1978	January Jones, Actress (“Mad Men”), turns 34

 

Historic Birthdays

Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky 1/5/1863 (1/17/1863 N.S.) – 8/7/1938 Russian actor, producer, teacher and philosopher of theater.Go to obituary »

69	Francisco Suárez 1/5/1548 – 9/25/1617 Spanish theologian
74	Shah Jahan 1/5/1592 – 1/22/1666 Mughal emperor of India and builder of the Taj Mahal
34	Zebulon Montgomery Pike 1/5/1779 – 4/27/1813 American army officer and explorer
41	Stephen Decatur 1/5/1779 – 3/22/1820 American naval officer
77	King Camp Gillette 1/5/1855 – 7/9/1932 American inventor and manufacturer
91	Konrad Adenauer 1/5/1876 – 4/19/1967 First chancellor of West Germany (1949-63)
77	Henry Sloane Coffin 1/5/1877 – 11/25/1954 American clergyman
76	Herbert Bayard Swope 1/5/1882 – 6/20/1958 American journalist and editor
55	Yves Tanguy 1/5/1900 – 1/15/1955 French Surrealist painter
87	Stella Gibbons 1/5/1902 – 12/19/1989 English novelist and poet
87	Hubert Beuve-Méry 1/5/1902 – 8/6/1989 French publisher and editor of “Le Monde”
72	Dame Kathleen Kenyon 1/5/1906 – 8/24/1978 English archaeologist
58	Alvin Ailey Jr. 1/5/1931 – 12/1/1989 American choreographer and dancer; founded Ailey American Dance Theater

 

Updated January 3, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 4, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined the goals of his ”Great Society” in his State of the Union address.

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On Jan. 4, 1896, Everett McKinley Dirksen, Republican leader of the Senate from 1959-1969, was born. Following his death on Sept. 7, 1969, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1896	Utah was admitted to the Union as the 45th state.
1948	Britain granted independence to Burma.
1951	North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul during the Korean War.
1960	Nobel Prize-winning French author Albert Camus died in a car accident at age 46.
1965	Poet T.S. Eliot died at age 76.
1974	President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
1995	The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected speaker of the House.
1999	Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as governor of Minnesota.
2004	Afghans approved a new constitution.
2006	Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and his powers were transferred to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.
2007	Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., became the first female speaker of the House.
2010	Dubai opened the world’s tallest skyscraper, the 2,717-foot gleaming glass-and-metal tower Burj Khalifa.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Rock singer Michael Stipe (R.E.M.) turns 52 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Actress Julia Ormond turns 47 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

1927	Barbara Rush, Actress, turns 85
1930	Don Shula, Hall of Fame football coach, turns 82
1937	Dyan Cannon, Actress, turns 75
1943	Doris Kearns Goodwin, Author, historian, turns 69
1957	Patty Loveless, Country singer, turns 55
1963	Dave Foley, Actor, comedian (“NewsRadio”), turns 49
1964	Dot Jones, Actress (“Glee”), turns 48
1966	Deana Carter, Country singer, turns 46

 

Historic Birthdays

Everett McKinley Dirksen 1/4/1896 – 9/7/1969 American politician and Republican leader of the Senate.Go to obituary »

75	James Ussher 1/4/1581 – 3/21/1656 Anglo-Irish prelate; calculated age of the Earth from the Bible
26	Giovanni Battista Pergolesi 1/4/1710 – 3/16/1736 Italian composer
67	Benjamin Rush 1/4/1746 – 4/19/1813 American physician, political leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence
71	Francois Rude 1/4/1784 – 11/3/1855 French sculptor
78	Jacob Grimm 1/4/1785 – 9/20/1863 German scholar and author, with Wilhelm Carl Grimm, of Grimm’s Fairy Tales
84	Sir Isaac Newton 1/4/1643-3/31/1727 English physicist and father of modern science
53	Wilhelm Beer 1/4/1797 – 3/27/1850 German astronomer; made first map of moon
43	Louis Braille 1/4/1809 – 1/6/1852 French educator and inventor of Braille
84	Sir Isaac Pitman 1/4/1813 – 1/12/1897 English educator and inventor of shorthand
38	Wilhelm Lehmbruck 1/4/1881 – 3/25/1919 German sculpture
87	Leroy Randle Grumman 1/4/1895 – 10/4/1982 American aeronautical engineer and founder of Grumman Aircraft

 

Updated January 2, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 3, 1959, President Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union as the 49th state.

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On Jan. 3, 1793, Lucretia Mott, an early proponent of the women’s rights movement in America, was born. Following her death on Nov. 11, 1880, her obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1521	Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.
1777	Gen. George Washington’s army routed the British in the Battle of Princeton, N.J.
1868	The Meiji Restoration re-established the authority of Japan’s emperor and heralded the fall of the military rulers known as shoguns.
1892	J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1938	The March of Dimes campaign to fight polio was organized.
1961	The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1967	Jack Ruby, the man who fatally shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, died in a Dallas hospital.
1990	Ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to U.S. forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican’s diplomatic mission in Panama City.
2000	The last new daily “Peanuts” comic strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers.
2004	NASA’s Mars rover, Spirit, touched down on the red planet.
2006	Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and agreed to cooperate in investigations of corruption in Congress.
2009	After seven days of pummeling the Gaza Strip from the air, Israel launched a ground offensive.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning turns 31 years old today.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Rock musician Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills and Nash) turns 67 years old today.

AP Photo/Tony Avelar

1926	George Martin, Record producer, turns 86
1930	Robert Loggia, Actor, turns 82
1932	Dabney Coleman, Actor, turns 80
1939	Bobby Hull, Hockey Hall of Famer, turns 73
1946	John Paul Jones, Rock musician (Led Zeppelin), turns 66
1950	Victoria Principal, Actress (“Dallas”), turns 62
1956	Mel Gibson, Actor, director, turns 56
1968	Shannon Sturges, Actress, turns 44
1975	Danica McKellar, Actress (“The Wonder Years”), turns 37

 

Historic Birthdays

Lucretia Mott 1/3/1793 – 11/11/1880 Early proponent of the American women’s rights movement.Go to obituary »

86	Heinrich Wilheim von Gerstenberg 1/3/1737 – 11/1/1823 German theorist of Sturm & Drang literary movement
82	Robert Whitehead 1/3/1823 – 11/14/1905 British engineer, invented the modern torpedo
49	Father Damien 1/3/1840 – 4/15/1889 Belgian missionary to Hawaiian lepers
71	Sir Henry Alfred Lytton 1/3/1865 – 8/15/1936 English Gilbert and Sullivan star
84	Clement Attlee 1/3/1883 – 10/8/1967 English prime minister (1945-51)
81	J. R. R. Tolkien 1/3/1892 – 9/2/1973 English novelist and scholar
84	T. Claude Ryan 1/3/1898 – 9/11/1982 American aircraft manufacturer; designed the Spirit of St Louis
62	Dinh Diem Ngo 1/3/1901 – 11/2/1963 South Vietnamese president (1955-63)
86	Boris Kochno 1/3/1904 – 1/8/1990 Russian-born French ballet librettist
22	Morten Nielsen 1/3/1922 – 8/29/1944 Danish poet & resistance fighter

 

Updated January 1, 2012, 1:28 pm

On Jan. 2, 1905, Japanese Gen. Nogi received from Russian Gen. Stoessel at 9 o’clock P.M. a letter formally offering to surrender, ending the Russo-Japanese War.

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On Jan. 2, 1920, Isaac Asimov, the immensely popular science fiction writer, was born. Following his death on April 6, 1992, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1492	The leader of the last Arab stronghold in Spain surrendered to Spanish forces loyal to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I.
1788	Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1900	Secretary of State John Hay announced the Open Door Policy to prompt trade with China.
1935	Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, N.J., on charges of kidnapping and murdering the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (He was found guilty and executed.)
1965	The New York Jets signed University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000.
1974	President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph.
1981	Police in Sheffield, England, arrested Peter Sutcliffe, who confessed to being the “Yorkshire Ripper,” the serial killer of 13 women.
1991	Sharon Pratt Dixon was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C., becoming the first African-American woman to head a city of Washington’s size and prominence.
2006	A methane gas explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia trapped 13 miners underground for more than 40 hours; only one survived.
2008	Oil prices soared to $100 a barrel for the first time.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actress Kate Bosworth turns 29 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Actor Dax Shepard turns 37 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

1940	Jim Bakker, Former TV evangelist, turns 72
1942	Dennis Hastert, Former House speaker, turns 70
1947	Jack Hanna, TV host, turns 65
1967	Tia Carrere, Actress, turns 45
1968	Cuba Gooding Jr., Actor, turns 44
1969	Christy Turlington, Model, turns 43
1971	Taye Diggs, Actor, turns 41
1976	Paz Vega, Actress, turns 36

 

Historic Birthdays

Isaac Asimov 1/2/1920 – 4/6/1992 American science fiction author.Go to obituary »

32	James Wolfe 1/2/1727 – 9/13/1759 English general who captured Quebec
67	Johann Daniel Titius 1/2/1729 – 12/11/1796 Prussian astronomer and physicist
66	Rudolf Clausius 1/2/1822 – 8/24/1888 German mathematical physicist
66	Justin Winsor 1/2/1831 – 10/22/1897 American librarian and historian
68	Ernst Barlach 1/2/1870 – 10/24/1938 German sculpture and playwright
58/59	Tex Rickard 1/2/1870/71 – 1/6/1929 American fight promoter and gambler
79	Albert Coombs Barnes 1/2/1872 – 7/24/1951 American inventor and art collector
24	Saint Theresa of Lisieux 1/2/1873 – 9/30/1897 French Carmelite nun
53	Count Folke Bernadotte 1/2/1895 – 9/17/1948 Swedish diplomat, humanitarian
75	Sally Rand 1/2/1904 – 8/31/1979 American actress and fan dancer

 

Updated December 31, 2011, 1:29 pm

On Jan. 1, 1959, Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory over Fulgencio Batista.

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On Jan. 1, 1895, J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1924-1972, was born. Following his death on May 2, 1972, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1808	A law prohibiting the importation of slaves into the United States went into effect.
1892	The Ellis Island Immigrant Station in New York opened.
1898	New York City was consolidated into five buroughs.
1901	The Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed.
1919	J.D. Salinger, author of “The Catcher in the Rye,” was born in New York City.
1953	Country singer Hank Williams Sr., 29, died of a drug and alcohol overdose.
1958	Treaties establishing the European Economic Community went into effect.
1959	Fidel Castro led Cuban revolutionaries to victory over Fulgencio Batista.
1979	The United States and China established diplomatic relations.
1984	AT&T was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.
1990	David Dinkins was sworn in as New York City’s first African-American mayor.
1993	Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two new countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
1994	The North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect.
1999	The euro became the official currency of 11 European countries.
2011	Oprah Winfrey launched the OWN cable TV network.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actor Frank Langella (“Frost/Nixon”) turns 73 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., turns 57 years old today.

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

1922	Ernest Hollings, Former U.S. senator, D-S.C., turns 89
1942	Country Joe McDonald, Rock singer, musician (Country Joe and the Fish), turns 69
1943	Don Novello, Comedian, turns 68
1947	Jon Corzine, Former governor of New Jersey, turns 64
1958	Grandmaster Flash, Rapper, turns 53
1964	Dedee Pfeiffer, Actress, turns 47
1966	Embeth Davidtz, Actress, turns 45
1969	Verne Troyer, Actor (“Austin Powers” movies), turns 42

 

Historic Birthdays

J. Edgar Hoover 1/1/1895 – 5/2/1972 American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Go to obituary »

43	Lorenzo de’ Medici 1/1/1449 – 3/9/1492 Italian statesman, ruler
51	Mad Anthony Wayne 1/1/1745 – 12/15/1796 American Revolutionary general
84	Betsy Ross 1/1/1752 – 1/30/1836 American, sewed the first American flag
87	Sir James George Frazer 1/1/1854 – 5/7/1941 British anthropologist, wrote Golden Bough
82	Alfred Stieglitz 1/1/1864 – 7/13/1946 American photographer
79	Ernest Jones 1/1/1879 – 2/11/1958 British psychoanalyst
73	William Fox 1/1/1879 – 5/8/1952 American motion picture executive
76	William J Donovan 1/1/1883 – 2/8/1959 American Director of the O.S.S. in WW2
76	Catherine Bowen 1/1/1897 – 1 1/1/1973 American writer
90	Xavier Cugat 1/1/1900 – 10/27/1990 Cuban band leader
83	Dana Andrews 1/1/1909 – 12/17/1992 American actor
89	Barry M. Goldwater 1/1/1909 – 5/29/1998 American senator
76	Kim Philby 1/1/1912 – 5/11/1988 British, Soviet double agent
71	Rocky Graziano 1/1/1919 – 5/22/1990 American boxer

 

Updated December 30, 2011, 1:28 pm

On Dec. 31, 1946, President Harry S. Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

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On Dec. 31, 1869, Henri Matisse, one of the foremost painters of 20th century French art, was born. Following his death on Nov. 3, 1954, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1857	Britain’s Queen Victoria decided to make Ottawa the capital of Canada.
1862	President Abraham Lincoln signed an act admitting West Virginia to the Union.
1951	The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $12 billion in foreign aid.
1974	Private U.S. citizens were allowed to buy and own gold for the first time in more than 40 years.
1985	Rock singer Rick Nelson, 45, and six other people were killed when fire broke out aboard a DC-3 that was taking the group to a New Year’s Eve performance in Dallas.
1993	Entertainer Barbra Streisand performed her first paid concert in 22 years, singing to a sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.
1997	Michael Kennedy, 39-year-old son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in a skiing accident on Aspen Mountain in Colorado.
2006	The death toll for Americans killed in the Iraq war reached 3,000.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actor Ben Kingsley turns 68 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

Actor Anthony Hopkins turns 74 years old today.

AP Photo/Dan Steinberg

1942	Andy Summers, Rock musician (The Police), turns 69
1944	Taylor Hackford, Director, producer, turns 67
1946	Diane Von Furstenberg, Fashion designer, turns 65
1947	Burton Cummings, Rock musician (The Guess Who), turns 64
1947	Tim Matheson, Actor (“Animal House,” “The West Wing”), turns 64
1948	Donna Summer, Singer, turns 63
1958	Bebe Neuwirth, Actress (“Cheers”), turns 53
1959	Val Kilmer, Actor, turns 52
1959	Paul Westerberg, Rock singer (The Replacements), turns 52

 

Historic Birthdays

Henri Matisse 12/31/1869 – 11/3/1954 French painter. Go to obituary »

88	Jules Styne 12/31/1905 – 9/20/1994 American songwriter
88	Nathan Milstein 12/31/1903 – 12/21/1992 Russian-born American violinist
87	Elizabeth Arden 12/31/1878 – 10/18/1966 Canadian-born American cosmetic executive
78	Ben Jones 12/31/1882 – 6/13/1961 American racehorse trainer
78	George C. Marshall 12/31/1880 – 10/16/1959 U.S. Army general
86	Robert Aitken 12/31/1864 – 10/29/1951 American astronomer
66	Charles Cornwallis 12/31/1738 – 10/5/1805 English soldier and statesman
65	Jacques Cartier 12/31/1491 – 9/1/1557 French explorer