1725 Jean-Baptiste Greuze - French painter and artist known for his paintings of everyday life and morality scenes. In the story The Valley of Fear, Sherlock Holmes noted that Professor Moriarty had one of Greuze’s paintings hanging in his study
1754 William Murdock – Scottish engineer who invented coal-gas lighting in 1792 while working with James Watt and Matthew Boulton on their steam engines. Distilling coal to produce the gas, he first illuminated his cottage and offices
1765 William IV – King of England who was known as The Sailor King for his service in the Royal Navy, which he joined at age 13. He was close friends with Admiral Nelson
1904 (William) Count Basie – US jazz pianist and bandleader (April in Paris, Open the Door Richard) and composer (One O'Clock Jump, Jumpin' at the Woodside)
1905 Friz Freleng - US movie animator who produced and directed many of the classic Warner Brothers cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Tweety and Sylvester and the gang. He also worked on many Dr. Seuss cartoons
1920 Christopher Robin Milne – Son of British writer A.A. Milne and his wife, Daphne. Christopher Robin would be immortalised in A.A. Milne's books Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner
1912 Hector 'Toe' Blake – Canadian hockey player and coach for the Montréal Canadiens who led the team to 3 Stanley Cups as a player. In 1955, the Canadiens brought him back as coach, and he led them to eight Stanley Cup championships in 13 seasons, including five in a row 1956-60, which was a National Hockey League record
1930 Princess Margaret Rose – Younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II
1938 Kenny Rogers – Actor (The Gambler, Six Pack, Wild Horses) and singer (She Believes in Me, Lady, Lucille, Islands in the Stream, What are We Doin' in Love, Through the Years, We've Got Tonight, You Decorated My Life) In addition to his solo career, he has been with the groups The Kirby Stone Four, The New Christy Minstrels, and The First Edition
1939 Harold Reid - Singer with The Statler Brothers (Flowers on the Wall, Bed of Roses, Class of '57)
1939 Clarence Williams III - Actor (The Mod Squad, Tales from the Hood, Sugar Hill, Purple Rain)
1944 Peter Weir – Australian director (Dead Poets Society, Witness, The Year of Living Dangerously, The Mosquito Coast)
1944 Jackie DeShannon - Singer (What the World Needs Now is Love, Put a Little Love in Your Heart) and songwriter (Dum Dum, Needles and Pins, When You Walk in the Room)
1945 Patty McCormack - Actress (The Bad Seed, Frost/Nixon, The Ropers, Peck's Bad Girl, General Hospital, House of Deadly Secrets, Hart of Dixie, The Sopranos, Gone But Not Forgotten)
1951 Harry Smith - TV host (CBS This Morning, A&E’s Biography)
1956 Kim Cattrall – British born Canadian actress (Breaking Point, Sex and the City, Mannequin, Scruples, Big Trouble in Little China, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
1967 Carrie-Anne Moss – Canadian actress (The Matrix, Chocolat, Memento, Love Hurts, Disturbia, Red Planet, Chuck, Vegas)
1975 Alicia Witt – Actress (Friday Night Lights, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Cybill, Urban Legend, Dune, Justified)
1989 Hayden Panettiere – Actress (Heroes, Scream 4, Fireflies in the Garden, Racing Stripes)
Died this Day
1614 Elizabeth Bathory - Hungarian countess who had ordered hundreds of young girls killed so she could bathe in their blood, which she believed made her skin silky
1796 Wabakinine - Mississauga Chief, died in what is now Toronto, Ontario. He was protecting his sister from a British soldier when he was struck on the head with a rock and killed. His wife was also seriously injured
1940 Leon Trotsky, age 60 - Exiled Russian revolutionary who played a leading role in both the 1905 revolution and the revolution in 1917. He was removed from all positions after the death of Lenin in 1924 and driven into exile. The previous day he was gravely wounded by an ice-pick wielding assassin at his compound outside Mexico City. The killer was a Spanish communist and probable agent of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
1940 Ernest Thayer – US writer (Casey at the Bat) He died exactly one week after his 77th birthday
1947 Ettore Bugatti – French car manufacturer who specialised in racing and luxury automobiles. His factory in Alsace turned out some of the most expensive cars ever produced
1983 Benigno Aquino – Exiled Philippine opposition leader, was shot dead minutes after his return to the Philippines, following a three-year self-imposed exile in the US. The assassination took place in full view of the television cameras as he stepped out of the plane at Manila airport. He had been assured a safe return by then-President Marcos. His assassination led to the 1986 collapse of the Marcos regime, and the consequent election of Aquino's widow, Corazon, as president
1988 Chriss Gittens, age 86 – British actor who is best remembered as Walter Gabriel in the British radio series The Archers, a part he played for 35 years
On this Day
1583 The Delight became the first Canadian shipwreck on record when it sank with 85 passengers off Sable Island
1680 Pueblo Indians took possession of Santa Fe, NM, after driving out the Spanish
1858 Sir Sam Browne, VC, Commander of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry, invented the “Sam Browne Belt” to hold his sword and pistol after he had lost one arm in action. It soon became standard kit for two-armed British soldiers
1883 The trial of Frank James began in Gallatin, Missouri. It was held in the city opera house in order to accommodate the crowds of spectators. After having robbed dozens of banks and trains over nearly two decades, Frank James turned himself in the previous October, fearing it was only a matter of time before someone also shot him in the back for reward money, as they had his brother, Jesse. He decided to try his chances with the courts, hoping that his popularity would win him a short sentence. Frank's trial went even better than he had hoped. Although Frank and Jesse James and their gang of desperados had killed many people, the majority of Missourians saw them as heroes who took money from ruthless bank and railroad companies and redistributed it to the poor. The state prosecutor had a difficult time finding jurors who were not prejudiced in Frank's favour. Looking at the panel of potential jurors, he concluded, "The verdict of the jury that is being selected is already written." After the trial began, several prominent witnesses testified to Frank's character. General Joseph O. Shelby, who had known him during his days as a Civil War guerrilla, encouraged the jurors to see Frank James as a defender of the South against corrupt big businesses from the North. When asked to identify Frank in the courtroom, the distinguished general exclaimed: "Where is my old friend and comrade in arms? Ah, there I see him! Allow me, I wish to shake hands with my fellow soldier who fought by my side for Southern rights!" It worked, and the jury found him not guilty. The states of Alabama and Missouri tried to convict him twice more, on charges of armed robbery, with no success. In late 1883, Frank James became a free man. He lived quietly for 32 more years. The only shots he ever fired again were from starter pistols at county racetracks, one of the handful of odd jobs he took to earn a living. He died at his family home in Missouri in 1915 at the age of 72
1903 The US’s first transcontinental auto race, stretching from New York City to San Francisco, was completed. The race was finished by Tom Fetch and M.C. Karrup in two Model F Packards, travelling an average of eighty miles per day for fifty-one days. They arrived covered in mud and exhausted. Along the way, the two travellers and their motorcars generated quite a bit of interest as they drove through many rural areas where automobiles were a rare sight. In one instance, a couple of Nebraska farmers, suspicious of the vehicles, threatened Fetch and Karrup with shotguns
1911 Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the “Mona Lisa – La Gioconda” was stolen from the Louvre in Paris. In perhaps the most brazen art theft of all time, Vincenzo Peruggia walked into the Louvre, headed straight for the enigmatic Mona Lisa, removed it from the wall, hid it beneath his clothes, and escaped. Peruggia had previously worked at the Louvre and was aided by group of accomplices dressed as Louvre janitors. When an amateur painter set up his easel a few minutes later, he noticed that Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was missing and notified the guards. While the entire nation of France was stunned, theories abounded as to what could have happened to the invaluable artwork. Most believed that professional thieves could not have been involved because they would have realised that it would be too dangerous to try to sell the world's most famous painting. A popular rumour in Paris was that the Germans had stolen it to humiliate the French. Investigators and detectives searched for the painting for more than two years without finding any decent leads. It was two years later that Florence art dealer Alfredo Geri was sent a note by Perruggia telling him he had hidden the painting in a hotel under a bed, and that it would be returned for a hefty ransom. The hotel was subsequently renamed the Gioconda. When Peruggia attempted to receive the ransom, he was captured. The painting was unharmed. Peruggia claimed that he had acted out of a patriotic duty to avenge Italy on behalf of Napoleon, but prior robbery convictions and a diary with a list of art collectors led most to think that he had acted solely out of greed. Peruggia served seven months of a one-year sentence and later served in the Italian army during the First World War. The Mona Lisa was eventually returned to the Louvre
1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state. The president also issued an order for a US flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows: five six-star rows and four five-star rows, which would become official the following July 4th
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