What happened on your birthday?

In My Humble Opinion
1

This is a survey that’s going around on Livejournal and since it involves random facts, I thought some people here might enjoy it.

Go to Wikipedia and look up your birth day (excluding the year). List three facts, two births and one death in your journal, including the year.

For me:

October 9

Facts:
1000 - Leif Ericson discovers Vinland, becoming the first known European to set foot in North America.
1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1989 - An official news agency in the Soviet Union reports the landing of a UFO in Voronezh. Those wacky Soviets!

Bonus fact: 1604 - Supernova 1604, the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way.

Births:
1581 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (d. 1638)
1940 - John Lennon, British musician and songwriter (The Beatles) (d. 1980)

Deaths:
1967 - Che Guevara, Argentine revolutionary and guerilla leader (executed) (b. 1928)

2

I was born.

3

January 25th

Facts:

41 - After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
1533 - Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
1971 - Charles Manson and three female “family members” are found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Births:

1759 - Robert Burns, Scottish poet (d. 1796)
1882 - Virginia Woolf, English writer (d. 1941)
1938 - Etta James, American singer

Death:

1947 - Al Capone, American gangster (b. 1899)

4

The actual day I was born Pope Paul VI stated that Catholics could eat meat on Fridays (so long as they gave up some food). I was born at a Catholic hospital so I can’t help but think I played a little role in it.

Eleven years to the day before and half a mile away from where I was born, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and thus started the Space Race.

5

March 19

Facts:
1915 - Pluto is photographed for the first time but was not recognized as a planet
1953 - Academy Awards are first televised.
1962 - Bob Dylan releases his first, self-titled album.

Births:
1848 - Wyatt Earp, American policeman and gunfighter (d. 1929)
1955 - Bruce Willis, American actor

Death:
1950 - Edgar Rice Burroughs, American author (b. 1875)

6

I haven’t checked Wiki but:

1938: Anschluss of Austria.

For my bros:

Bro1: 1938, our maternal grandparents get married

Bro2: 15something or other: battle of Lepanto

7

November 5

• 1605 - Gunpowder Plot: A plot led by Robert Catesby to blow up the English Houses of Parliament is thwarted when Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, finds Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the Parliament building. Fawkes was later hanged, drawn and quartered for his role in the conspiracy.

• 1872 - Women’s suffrage: In defiance of the law, suffragist Susan B. Anthony votes for the first time, and is later fined $100.

• 1999 - United States v. Microsoft: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues a preliminary ruling that software maker Microsoft had “monopoly power”.

Births:

• 1963 - Andrea McArdle, American actress
• 1963 - Tatum O’Neal, American actress

(I chose these two because I was born the same year.)

Death:

• 1989 - Vladimir Horowitz, Russian pianist (b. 1903)

8

May 17

Events:
1792 - The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
1846 - The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
2004 - Same-sex marriage becomes legal in Massachusetts.
Births:
1936 - Dennis Hopper, American actor and director
1965 - Trent Reznor, American singer and songwriter

Death:
1992 - Lawrence Welk, American musician

(side note: May 17th was also the day of Gage Creed’s funeral in Pet Sematary.)

9

September 7 here…

Facts;
1251 BC - A solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes, Greece.
1822 - Brazil declares its independence from Portugal.
1940 - World War II: The Blitz - Nazi Germany begins to rain bombs on London. This will be the first of 57 consecutive nights of bombing.

Bonus: 1969 - Monty Python’s Flying Circus airs first episode.

Births;
1533 - Queen Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603)
1951 - Chrissie Hynde, American guitarist and singer

Death;
2003 - Warren Zevon, American musician and songwriter (b. 1947)

10

June 10

1190 - Frederick I (Barbarossa) drowns in the Saleph River while leading an army to Jerusalem during the Third Crusade.

1829 - Oxford and Cambridge compete in their first Boat Race.

1977 - The first Apple II computer is shipped.

Births:
Gina Gershon (1962), Jeanne Tripplehorn (1963) and Elizabeth Hurley (1965). (I know I was only supposed to provide two, but geez, I share my birthday with Gina Gershon, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Elizabeth Hurley. Yowza.)

Death(s):
Barbarossa’s drowning proved to be fatal. Also, Alexander the Great (323 BC).

11

February 4

Facts:

  1. 1783 - American Revolutionary War: The United Kingdom formally declares that it will cease hostilities with the United States of America.

  2. 1794 - The French legislature abolishes slavery throughout all territories of the French Republic.

  3. 1861 - American Civil War: In Montgomery, Alabama the Confederate States of America is formed by delegates from six break-away United States.

and a bonus:

  1. 1945 - World War II: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin begin the Yalta Conference.

Births:

  1. 1902 - Charles Lindbergh, American pilot (d. 1974)

  2. 1913 - Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (d. 2005)

Deaths:

  1. 1987 - Liberace, American musician (b. 1919)

Interestingly, Betty Friedan was both born and died (much later of course) on this day.

12

Sept 30

cool facts
1888 - Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.
1927 - Babe Ruth, Becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season
1947 - Baseball: The World Series, featuring New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time.
1955 - James Dean dies in a car crash.
1962 - James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation.
1982 - The TV sitcom Cheers premieres.
2005 - The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
I share my brithday with
Kenny Baker, American singer and actor
Deborah Kerr, Scottish actress
Truman Capote, American author
Jack Wild, British actor
Barry Williams, American actor
Fran Drescher, American actress
Eric Stoltz, American actor
Jenna Elfman, American actress

I chose not to list deaths that occured on 9/30, because except for James Dean (mentioned above) I haven’t heard of any of those people :smiley:

13

April 2:
69 - Galba, governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Roman emperors begun with Julius Caesar and Augustus.

1917 - World War I: U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asks the U.S. Congress for a declaration of war on Germany.

1930 - Haile Selassie is proclaimed emperor of Ethiopia.

Births:

1725 - Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer and writer (d. 1798)
1914 - Sir Alec Guinness, English actor (d. 2000)
Deaths:

1118 - Baldwin I of Jerusalem, King of Jerusalem

14

October 24 –

69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus, the commander of the Danube armies, loyal to Vespasian, defeat the forces of Emperor Vitellius.

1929 - “Black Thursday” stock market crash on the New York Stock Exchange.

1989 - Televangelist Jim Bakker is sentenced to 45 years in prison and a 500,000 USD fine for defrauding investors of 3.7 million USD.

Births:

51 - Domitian, Roman Emperor (d. 96)

1947 - Kevin Kline, American actor

Death:

1601 - Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer (b. 1546) (take that, Brahe! You AND your silver nose!)

Lots of other cool people died on my birthday, so I’m naming my favorites here too –

1537 - Jane Seymour, queen of Henry VIII of England
1945 - Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian traitor (executed) (b. 1887)
1957 - Christian Dior, French fashion designer (b. 1905)
1972 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (b. 1919)
1991 - Gene Roddenberry, American television producer (b. 1921)
2005 - Rosa Parks, American civil rights activist (b. 1913) :frowning:

It’s also Maladay, feast day of Malaclypse the Elder, which just goes to show I know too much about Discordianism. :stuck_out_tongue:
Also, Frodo woke up in Rivendell on my birthday, which tickled me when I was a little girl.

15

May 2nd:

Facts:
1920 - The first game of the Negro National League baseball is played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1932 - Comedian Jack Benny’s radio show airs for the first time.
1933 - The first modern sighting of the Loch Ness monster is reported. [I wonder if Jack Benny was involved?]

Births:
1890 - E. E. “Doc” Smith, American writer (d. 1965)
1972 - Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor

Deaths:
1972 - J. Edgar Hoover, American director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)

16

I was born on September 11. I think that date is sufficiently famous among US citizens that I don’t need to elaborate.

17

Facts:

1536- Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour

1958- The bodies of several unidentified soldiers from World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery

and now, ladies and gentlemen, the most momentous event ever to take place on my birthdate

::drumroll::

1998- Ginger Spice leaves the Spice Girls
Births:

1908- Mel Blanc, American voice actor

1951- Stephen Tobolowsky, American actor
Deaths:

1431- Joan of Arc

18

January 13

Events:
1559 - Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey.
1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th moon of Jupiter.
1938 - Church of England accepts theory of evolution. [just shy of the 80th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species)].

Births:
1931 - Charles Nelson Reilly
1934 - Rip Taylor
[Yes, I share a birthday with both Charles Nelson Reilly and Rip Taylor!]

Death:
1941 - James Joyce, Irish writer (b. 1882)

19

Events:

1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field decisively ends the Wars of the Roses (A horse, A horse!)
1851 - The first America’s Cup is won by the yacht America.
1953 - The jail on Devil’s Island is closed

Births:

1880 - George Herriman, American cartoonist (d. 1944) (Wow! Didn’t know that)
1920 - Ray Bradbury, American writer

Deaths:

1922 - Michael Collins, Irish revolutionary (ambushed) (b. 1890)

20

March 8

1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
1862 - The iron-clad CSS Virginia, formerly the USS Merrimack, is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
1983 - President Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an “evil empire.”

Births:
1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. - U.S. Supreme Court justice
1945 - Micky Dolenz of The Monkees

Death:
1874 - Millard Fillmore - 13th President of the United States