Headline Birthdays for June 6

Diego Velazquez 1599-1660

baptized in Seville, Spain; died in Madrid Aug. 6, 1660; realist painter, of noble Portuguese descent; studied art with Francisco Pacheco, whose daughter he married, then moved to Madrid; painted a portrait of Philip IV, who became his patron; made two visits to Italy, first, in 1629, to copy masterpieces in Venice and Rome; second, in 1649, to acquire paintings, by Titian, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese, for the king's collection; served as court painter and marshal of the royal household. [pictures: Maria Theresa; The Feast of Bacchus; The Maids of Honour (with a self-portrait at left and reflections of Philip IV and Queen in the mirror)]

Pierre Corneille 1606-1684

born in Rouen, France; died in Paris Oct. 1, 1684; poet, dramatist; best known for classical tragedies Le Cid (1637), Horace (1640), Cinna (1641), and Polyeucte (1643), and a comedy Le Menteur (1642, The Liar); 1671 joined Moliére and Quinault in writing the opera Psyché.

Aleksandr Pushkin 1799-1837

born in Moscow; killed in a duel in St. Petersburg Feb. 10, 1837; poet, novelist, dramatist, short-story writer; banished from Moscow for his liberal views; 1817 entered the ministry of foreign affairs in St. Petersburg; but joined an underground revolutionary group; 1820 his Ode to Liberty came to the attention of the authorities, and he was exiled to the Caucasus; best known for his long epic poem Ruslan and Ludmilla, his verse novel Eugene Onegin (1823-1831), and Boris Godunov (1824-25), all of which became opera librettos for composers Glinka, Tchaikovsky, and Mussorgsky; died at 37 in a gun duel defending the honor of his wife.

Robert Falcon Scott 1868-1912

born in Devonport, Devon; froze to death in Antarctica March 29, 1912; British naval officer, explorer; led the famed, ill-fated second expedition to reach the South Pole (1910-13) and died with his men on the return trip just short of base camp.

Alexandra 1872-1918

born in Darmstadt, Germany; shot to death with her family in Yekaterinburg, Russia July 16, 1918; Empress of Russia, consort of Czar Nicholas II; her reliance on such advisors as Rasputin, and her misrule while Nicholas was away commanding the troops during World War I precipitated the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Revolution.

Thomas Mann 1875-1955

born in Lubeck, Germany to a wealthy merchant family in decline; died near Zürich, Switzerland Aug. 12, 1955; novelist, essayist; 1929 awarded Nobel Prize for Literature; 1933 fled Nazi Germany to Switzerland with his Jewish wife when Hitler came to power, and denounced the 'terrible complicity of the German universities' in breeding 'those ideas which are ruining Germany morally, culturally, and financially'; 1938 moved to the US to teach at Princeton, then settled in Southern California; best known for novels Buddenbrooks (1900), Death in Venice (1912), The Magic Mountain (1924), Joseph and His Brothers (1933-44), his four volume tribute to the Jews in their darkest hour, and Dr Faustus (1949).

Ninette de Valois 1898-

born Edris Stannus in Baltiboys, County Wicklow, Ireland; dancer, choreographer; moved to England at age 7, started studying dance and at 14 started her career in music hall revues; inspired by The Ballets Russes, she started training under Enrico Cecchetti and joined Diaghilev's company in 1923; 1925 opened a ballet school in Kensington and got the Old Vic to start a ballet company; did the same at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, then returned to London and bought the old Sadler Wells; May 15 1931 opened the Sadler Wells Ballet; 1934 mounted full length ballets such as Giselle and Copellia, starring former Ballet Russe ballerina, Alicia Markova, and a young English dancer Margot Fonteyn, who took over most of Markova's roles, with Australian dancer Robert Helpmann; after World War II reopened at Covent Garden as the Royal Ballet; 1962 invited young Soviet star Rudolf Nureyev to join The Royal Ballet and dance with Fonteyn; also helped to establish national ballets in Canada, Turkey and Iran.
[note: she was still alive in 1998; I can find no obit]

Achmad Sukarno 1901-1970

born at Surabaja, Java, Indonesia; died in Jakarta June 21, 1970; politician, statesman; 1927 helped lead a radical nationalist movement against the Dutch colonizers of Java; 1930s jailed and exiled by the Dutch; cooperated with the Japanese during the occupation; Aug. 1945 he and Mohammad Hatta played a crucial part in the founding of the Republic of Indonesia; 1949 elected President; 1956 suppressed the country's original parliamentary system in favour of an authoritarian 'Guided Democracy", with a cabinet that represented all political parties; July 1959 dissolve the assembly and assumed full dictatorial powers; May, 1963 brought Dutch New Guinea under Indonesian administration after raids and UN intervention; 1963 proclaimed himself President for Life and increased ties to Communist China; 1965 withdrew Indonesia from the United Nations after the Federation of Malaysia took its seat on the Security Council; 1965 attempted Communist coup led to military takeover by General Suharto, who put him under house arrest until his death. [picture: with Yugoslavia's Tito]

Isaiah Berlin 1909-1997

born in Riga, Latvia, the only child of a well-to-do timber merchant and his opera-loving wife; died in London, England in 1997, after a life in which he witnessed the twilight of the Czarist empire and the collapse of the Soviet state; historian, liberal political philosopher; 1919 emigrated to England with his parents; 1928 entered Corpus Christi College at Oxford, and became a lecturer in philosophy at All Souls; became an historian of the Russian intelligentsia and the Romantic movement, wrote a biography of Karl Marx; in his life. Quote: "Men do not live only by fighting evils. They live by choosing their own goals - a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible."

Bjorn Borg 1956-

born in Sodertalje, near Stockholm, Sweden; tennis player, winner of 62 singles titles, and known for the deadly accuracy of his two-handed backhand from the baseline; left school at age 14 and within a year was the world's top-ranked junior player; 1972 win the junior title at Wimbledon; first to win the Wimbledon men's singles championship five successive times (1976-80) since Laurie Doherty (1902-06); won the French Open men's singles championship in 1974 and 1975, and an unprecedented four times in a row (1978-81); 1975 led Sweden to its first Davis Cup win; 1983 retired at age 26; 1991 attempted unsuccessful comeback in 1991 and is ow on the senior tour. Borg still holds the record for consecutive victories at Wimbledon (41), in Davis Cup play (33), and at the French Open (28).

Other Birthdays

1436 06 06 Regiomontanus (Johannes Mller), prepares astronomical tables
1502 06 06 Joƒo III, King of Portugal (1521-57)
1599 06 06 Diego Vel zquez, Spain, painter (Rokeby Venus) (baptized)
1606 06 06 Pierre Corneille, France, dramatist (El Cid, Horace)
1621 06 06 Péter Zrinyi, Hungarian ruler of Croatia
1625 06 06 Domenico Guidi, Italian sculptor
1661 06 06 Giacomo Antonio Perti, composer
1671 06 06 Stenka/Stepan Razin, Russian cossack/boer leader
1676 06 06 Georg Reidel, composer
1695 06 06 Adriaen Valckenier, gov-gen Neth-Indies (1737-41)/killed 8,000 Chinese
1722 06 06 Adrien Trudo Sale, composer
1735 06 06 Anton Schweitzer, composer
1755 06 06 John Flaxman, English sculptor (Westminster Abbey tomb stones)
1755 06 06 Nathan Hale, hanged patriot, had but one life to give for his country
1756 06 06 John Trumbull, US painter (Declaration of Independence)
1765 06 06 Cornelis Loots, Dutch accountant/poet (Dwingelandij)
1799 06 06 Aleksandr Sergeyevich, Russia, poet, founder of modern Russian Lit
1799 06 06 Alexandr Pushkin, Russia, writer (Eugene Onegin) (5/26 OS)
1804 06 06 Petter Conrad Boman, composer
1807 06 06 Adrien Fran‡ois Servais, composer
1813 06 06 Israel Washburn, gov (Union), died in 1883
1815 06 06 Francesco Antonio Norberto Pinto, composer
1819 06 06 William Howard Glover, composer
1825 06 06 Ignaz V Zingerle Edler von Simmersberg, Austria, poet (Weistmer)
1826 06 06 Sarah Parker Remond, US/Italian abolitionist
1829 06 06 John Baillie McIntosh, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1888
1840 06 06 John Stainer, composer
1840 06 06 William Francis Bartlett, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1842 06 06 James Morrison Steele Mackaye, US actor (Amer Acad of Dramatic Art)
1847 06 06 Gerben Postma, [Ids], Frisian writer (Swealtsjeblommen)
1850 06 06 Karl F Braun, Germany, co-developed wireless telegraphy (Nobel 1909)
1860 06 06 William R Inge, English theologist/Deacon St Paul's Cathedral
1862 06 06 Henry John Newbolt, English sea historian/poet
1868 06 06 Robert Falcon Scott, British leader of ill-fated south pole expedition
1869 06 06 Andersen Nex”, writer
1869 06 06 Siegfried Wagner, German opera composer/conductor
1872 06 06 Alexandra Fjodorovna Romanova, last Russian tsarina (1894-1918)
1875 06 06 Thomas Mann, Germany, novelist (Magic Mountain-Nobel 1929)
1875 06 06 Walter Percy Chrysler, found Chrysler Corp (1925)
1878 06 06 Vincent [de Moro-]Giafferi, French prosecutor (Dieudonné, Landru)
1879 06 06 L Patrick Abercrombie, English architect
1880 06 06 William T Cosgrave, president Irish Free state
1886 06 06 Paul Dudley White, heart specialist
1887 06 06 Ruth Benedict, anthropoligist
1890 06 06 Dorothy Heyward, NYC, playwright (Porgy)
1891 06 06 Istvan Kardos, composer
1891 06 06 Ted Lewis, Circleville OH, bandleader/writer (Is Everybody Happy?)
1891 06 06 Vladislac Vancura, writer
1892 06 06 Pearl S Buck, writer
1893 06 06 Ludovic Feldman, composer
1894 06 06 Sabin V Dragoi, composer
1896 06 06 Italo Balbo, Italian pilot/gov-gen of Libya (La marcia su Rome)
1896 06 06 Robert Sheriff, playwright (Journey's End)
1898 06 06 Johannes J Fouché, president South-Africa
1898 06 06 Ninette de Valois, [Edris Stannus], Engl, ballerina (Royal Ballet)
1898 06 06 Walter Abel, St Paul Mn, actor (Suspicion, Dream Girl)
1900 06 06 Arthur Askey, Liverpool, actor (Bees in Paradise, Ghost Train)
1901 06 06 Achmed Sukarno, Java, PM of Indonesia (1945-67)
1902 06 06 Avraham Daus, composer
1902 06 06 Harold Roxbee Cox Kings Norton, aeronautical engineer
1903 06 06 Aram Il'yich Khachaturian, Tiflis Georgia, musician/composer (Gayane)
1905 06 06 John Gart, Russia, orch leader (Paul Winchell Show)
1906 06 06 Max Zorn, German mathematician (lemma of Zorn)
1906 06 06 Stefan Andres, writer
1907 06 06 Bill Dickey, NY Yankee hall-of-fame catcher (1928-43)/manager (1946)
1907 06 06 Robert Humphreys, British? historian
1909 06 06 Isaiah Berlin, philosopher
1909 06 06 M J Gopalan, cricketer (1 Test India v England 1933-34)
1910 06 06 Ben Aerden, [John Mikkelsen], actor (Hamlet)
1910 06 06 Toshitsugu Ogiwara, composer
1913 06 06 Jiri Hajek, Czech jurist/foreign minister
1915 06 06 Dhimit‰r Shuteriqi, Albania, writer (€lirimtar‰t The liberator)
1915 06 06 Vincent Persichetti, Phila Pennsylvania, composer (Sibyl)
1917 06 06 Kirk Kerkorian, CEO (MGM, UA)
1917 06 06 Prior Jones, cricketer (WI pace bowler in 9 Tests 1948-52)
1918 06 06 Maria Montez, Dominican Rep, actress (Arabian Nights)
1918 06 06 Richard Crane, Newcastle Ind, actor (Surfside 6)
1918 06 06 Tom Scott, poet/editor
1919 06 06 Charles Pringle, British air marshal
1922 06 06 Ian Hamilton, composer
1924 06 06 Serge Nigg, composer
1926 06 06 Klaus Tennstedt, Merseburg Germany, conductor (Fidelio)
1926 06 06 Tom Ryan, comic strip cartoonist (Tumbleweeds)
1928 06 06 George Deukmejian, Menands NY, (Gov-Cal)
1929 06 06 Boguslaw Schaffer, composer
1929 06 06 Viktor Konezki, writer
1930 06 06 Frank Tyson, cricketer (Typhoon England pace destroyer mid-50's)
1931 06 06 Lloyd Lindroth, the Liberace of the Harp
1932 06 06 Billie Whitelaw, Coventry England, actress (Omen, Adding Machine)
1932 06 06 David R Scott, San Antonio Tx, Col USAF/astronaut (Gem 8, Apol 9, 15)
1933 06 06 Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist (tunneling microscope-Nobel 1986)
1934 06 06 Ad G J Lansink, chemist/Dutch 2nd Chamber member (CDA)
1934 06 06 Albert II FHTCEM, king of Belgium (1993- )
1934 06 06 Philippe Entremont, France, pianist/conductor (Vienna Chamber Orch)
1935 06 06 Bobby Mitchell, NFL running back/wide receiver (Browns, Redskins)
1935 06 06 Dalai Lama 14, Tibet, spiritual leader of Tibet's Lamaistic Buddhists
1935 06 06 Harry Crews, US writer/actor (Indian Runner)
1935 06 06 Jean Gattegno, translator/scholar
1935 06 06 Misja Mengelberg, Dutch jazz pianist/composer (Reconstruction)
1936 06 06 Levi Stubbs, rocker (4 Tops-Same Old Song)
1939 06 06 Gary US Bonds, [Anderson], Fla, singer/songwriter (New Orleans)
1939 06 06 Louis Andriessen, Dutch composer (Reconstruction)
1939 06 06 Marian Wright-Edelman, health care president (Childrens Defense Fund)
1939 06 06 Nganani Enos J Mabuza, S African leader (Inyandza Natl Movement)
1940 06 06 Laudir De Olivera, rocker (Chicago)
1940 06 06 Phillip Rhodes, composer
1940 06 06 Sandra Morgan, 100m freestyle swimmer (Olympic-gold-1956)
1940 06 06 Willie-John McBride, British rugby player
1942 06 06 Howie Kane, rocker
1942 06 06 Larry The Mole Taylor, rocker (Canned Heat)
1942 06 06 Sandra Morgan, US 4 X 100m freestyle swimmer (Olympic-gold-1956)
1943 06 06 Asif Iqbal, cricketer (elegant Pakistani batsman 1964-80)
1944 06 06 Edgar Froese, rocker (Tangerine Dream)
1944 06 06 Peter Albin, SF Calif, rocker (Big Brother & Holding Co)
1945 06 06 David Dukes, SF, actor (Beacon Hill, 79 Park Avenue, Winds of War)
1945 06 06 David E Bonior, (Rep-D-MI, 1977- )
1946 06 06 Chelsea Brown, Chicago Ill, comedienne (Laugh-in, Matt Lincoln)
1946 06 06 Lasse Hallstrom, director (Once Around, My Life as a Dog, ABBA)
1947 06 06 Marion Coakes, England, equestrian show jumper (Olympic-silver-1968)
1947 06 06 Terry Williams, rocker (First Edition)
1949 06 06 Edgar Warren Williams, composer
1949 06 06 Robert Englund, actor (Freddy Kreuger-Nightmare on Elm St, V)
1950 06 06 Chantal Akerman, actor/director (Akermania, Je Tu II Elle)
1951 06 06 Dwight Twilley, Tulsa Okla, country singer (Twilley Don't Mind)
1952 06 06 Yukihiro Yakahashi, rocker (Yellow Magic Orchestra)
1953 06 06 Ken Calvert, (Rep-R-California)
1954 06 06 Harvey Fierstein, Brooklyn NY, playwright (Torch Song Trilogy, ID4)
1955 06 06 Dana Carvey, Missoula MT, comedian (SNL, Garth-Wayne's World)
1955 06 06 Sandra Bernhard, Flint Mich, actress (King of Comedy, Nancy-Roseanne)
1956 06 06 Andy Pycroft, cricketer (Zimbabwe Test batsman)
1956 06 06 Bj”rn B”rg, Sodertlage Sweden, tennis champ (Wimbledon 1976-79)
1956 06 06 Jay C Buckey, NYC, physician/astronaut (STS 58 alt, sk: 90)
1956 06 06 Marilyn Jones, Pitts Pa, actress (Carey-King's Crossing)
1957 06 06 Mike Gatting, cricketer (England batsman 1977-95 & captain)
1958 06 06 Elaine Crosby, Birmingham MI, LPGA golfer (1989 Mazda Japan Classic)
1959 06 06 Amanda Pays, London England, actress (Max Headroom, Off Limits)
1960 06 06 Gary Graham, actor (Money on the Side)
1960 06 06 Lola Forner, Alicante SW Spain, Miss Spain (1979)
1960 06 06 Steve Vai, guitarist (Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth Band, Whitesnake)
1961 06 06 Bill Bates, NFL safety (Dallas Cowboys)
1961 06 06 Sydney Walsh, actress (Mo-Hooperman)
1963 06 06 Dannette Leininger, Kailua HA, team handball wing (Olympics-92, 96)
1963 06 06 Vladimir Ruzicka, hockey forward (Team Czech Oly-Gold-1998)
1964 06 06 Dee C Lee, [Diane Sealey], rocker (Style Council-You're Best Thing)
1964 06 06 Sherry J Traylor, Mexico Missouri, Miss Missouri-America (1991)
1965 06 06 David Whyte, rocker (Brother Beyond-Can You Keep a Secret)
1965 06 06 Sally McDermid, Australian softball outfielder (Olympics-bronze-96)
1965 06 06 Wendy Wiebe, St Catharines Ontario, rower (Olympics-96)
1966 06 06 Angela Cavagna, Genoa Italy, singer
1967 06 06 Max Casella, actor (Vinnie-Doogie Howser)
1967 06 06 Michael Timpson, NFL wide receiver (Chic Bears, Philadelphia Eagles)
1967 06 06 Wasim Haider, cricketer (member Pakistan's 1992 World Cup squad)
1968 06 06 Brian Wright, Stillwater Okla, Canadian Tour golfer (1991 NM Open-2nd)
1968 06 06 Craig Roberts, Everett WA, Canadian 68 kg freestyle wrestler (Oly-96)
1968 06 06 Edwin Vurens, Dutch soccer player (FC Twente)
1969 06 06 Brian Greenfield, WLAF punter (London Monarchs)
1969 06 06 Douglas Lee Mitchell, Miles Mi, heavy metal artist (Southgang)
1969 06 06 Mike Croel, NFL linebacker (NY Giants)
1969 06 06 Sunil Joshi, cricketer (Indian Test left-arm spinner 1996)
1970 06 06 Randy Jordan, NFL running back (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1971 06 06 Mike Craig, St Mary's, NHL right wing (Toronto Maple Leafs)
1972 06 06 Dulip Liyanage, cricketer (Sri Lanka righty fast-medium Test bowler)
1972 06 06 Erin Woodley, Mississauga Ontario, synchro swimmer (Olympic-silver-96)
1972 06 06 Frankie King, NBA guard (LA Lakers)
1972 06 06 Gary Downs, running back (Atlanta Falcons)
1972 06 06 Jeff Williams, Australian baseball pitcher (Olympics-1996)
1972 06 06 Marko Kiprusoff, Turku FIN, NHL defenseman (Team Finland, Montreal)
1973 06 06 Ashfaq Ahmed, cricketer (Pakistan pace bowler 1993-)
1973 06 06 Jamie Wilson, tackle (Carolina Panthers)
1973 06 06 Jon Hesse, NFL linebacker (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1973 06 06 Olindo Mare, kicker (Miami Dolphins)
1974 06 06 Brooke Wilkins, Australian softball pitcher (Olympics-bronze-96)
1974 06 06 Patrick Hape, tight end (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1975 06 06 Niklas Sundstrom, Ornskoldsvik Swe, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1975 06 06 Staci Keanan, [Anastasia Love Sagorsky], actress (Nicole-My 2 Dads)
1976 06 06 Lukas Hass, actor (Mars Attacks, Lady in White, Witness, Music Box)
1976 06 06 Melanie Sibetang, Miss Northern Marianas Universe (1997)
1979 06 06 Summer Newman, Miss Georgia Teen USA (1996)

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