Headline Birthdays for June 17
Edward I 1239-1307
born at Westminster, Middlesex, the son of Henry
III; died at Burgh by Sands, near Carlisle, Cumberland July 7, 1307; Monarch
of England 1272-1307; 1264 fought for his father at the Battle of Lewes;
captured, but escaped, joined forces with Roger Mortimer, Earl of Gloucester,
and together they defeated Simon de Montfort at Evesham on Aug. 4, 1265;
1270 declared himself a crusader pledged to free the Holy Land from the grip
of the Muslims, reached the Middle East in 1271 with a small army of 1,000
men and captured Nazareth, scoring a moral victory by liberating the hometown
of Jesus Christ; survived an attack by a Muslim assassin with a poisoned
knife; hearing of the death of his father, returned home during a truce;
1274 landed at Dover after an absence of four years; spent several years
pacifying Wales, and particularly Llewellyn-ap-Graffyd, who declared himself
Prince of Wales; 1277 gathered an army of 1,000 armored knights and 15,000
foot soldiers and advanced along the north Welsh coast to capture the island
of Anglesey, breadbasket of Llewellyn's tribes, who sued for peace; built
chain of castles, including Conway, Harlech, Rhuddlan, Beaumaris and Caernarvon;
1296 put down the first of three rebellions north of the border in Scotland,
led by John Balliol, who had been selected King of Scots by Edward himself;
1298 defeated Sir William Wallace at Falkirk with the aid of Welsh longbows;
the rebellion of Robert the Bruce outlasted Edward, who died while travelling
north to suppress it; his son Edward II later suffered a humiliating defeat
at the hands of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn, on June 23, 1314, by which
Scotland won its independence from England.
Charles XII 1682-1718
born in Stockholm, Sweden, son and successor
of Charles XI; died in Fredrikshald, Norway Nov. 30, 1718; King of Sweden
1697-1718; defended his country for 18 years during the Great Northern War,
when Russia, Poland, Saxony and Denmark ranged against him; forced Denmark
to make peace (Aug., 1700), defeated Peter I at Narva (Nov., 1700), subjugated
Courland (1701), invaded Poland and, declaring Augustus II dethroned, secured
the election (1704) of Stanislaus I as king of Poland. In 1706 he invaded
Saxony and forced Augustus to recognize Stanislaus as king and end his alliance
with Russia; 1708-09 his disastrous invasion of Russia with the Coasacks
resulted in the complete collapse of the Swedish armies, and Charles fled
to Turkey; 1715 escaped back to Sweden and proceeded to invade Norway, but
was killed in the trenches.
John Wesley 1703-1791
born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, one of nineteen
children of an Anglican vicar; died in London March 2, 1791; Anglican clergyman,
evangelist, founder, with his brother Charles, of the Methodist movement
in the Church of England; at age 6 rescued by a neighbour from a burning
room in his father's rectory at Epworth (he often referred to himself in
later life as a "brand plucked from the burning"); educated at home by his
mother, Susanna, then at Charterhouse before obtaining an exhibition to Christ
Church in 1720; 1725 ordained priest in Christ Church Cathedral; joined a
small undergraduate group led by his brother Charles, known as the Methodists,
dedicated to regular (hence 'Methodist') devotions and good works; 1735 left
Oxford to be chaplian to the English community in Savannah, Georgia; May
24, 1738 felt his heart 'strangely warmed' at a meeting in Aldersgate Street,
London, and started off on an itinerant ministry, largely on horseback, throughout
the British Isles; preached in the open air, drawing large and sometimes
hostile crowds; organised followers into small groups of 'Societies', using
local people in teaching, administration and preaching; 1778 opened his chapel
in City Road, London; 1784 ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vazey for
work in North America - the decisive act in separating Methodism from the
Anglican Church. [picture: City Road Chapel]
Jon Sigurdsson 1811-1879
born the son of a pastor in the Westfjords
of Iceland; died in Copenhagen, Denmark Dec. 7, 1879; scholar, statesman;
1833 went to Copenhagen to study history and other subjects at the University;
began to work at the Arnamagnæan Collection, and collected and edited
many Old Norse sagas and documents; married his cousin, Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir,
and they lived their lives in Copenhagen where their home became an Icelandic
Embassy; visited Iceland every other year to chair the meetings of the Althing,
an advisory body to the Danish government and King; led the struggle for
Icelandic self-government under Denmark; pointed out that in 1262 the Icelanders
had made a treaty with the King of Norway where they consented as a free
people to have him as their King with certain duties and rights. As Norway
became united with Denmark, so did Iceland; when the Danish King renounced
his dictatorial power in 1848 the Icelanders' old rights should have been
restored; 1874 the Danes granted Iceland a limited Constitution, on the thousandth
anniversary of the beginning of settlement of their country; a few years
later they granted Iceland complete home-rule in a personal union with Denmark.
Also on this day in 1944, Iceland proclaimed itself an independent republic
at Thingvallir after a referendum on disengaging from Denmark's rule.
Igor Stravinsky 1882-1971
born at Lomonosov, near St. Petersburg,
Russia; died in New York City April 6, 1971; modernist composer; 1913 his
tribal ballet, The Rite of Spring, was greeted by boos and a riot in the
audience, when it premiered at the Champs-Elysées Theater in Paris
with the Ballet Russe; also composed Petrushka, The Firebird; 1918 his work
The Soldiers Tale, written for a small ensemble, was influenced by American
jazz sheet music, though at the time he had never actually heard jazz; after
World War I, he moved to Paris and wrote the ballet Pulcinella; 1937 moved
to the US and lived in Hollywood during the 1940s; 1942 got a commission
from the Barnum and Bailey Circus to compose a Circus Polka for Young Elephants.
[pictures: with Nijinsky; by Picasso]
M. C. Escher 1898-1972
born Maurits Cornelius Escher in Leeuwarden,
Netherlands; died in Laren March 27, 1972; graphic artist; attended the School
for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem where he devoted himself
to the graphic arts, particularly woodcuts; 1923 inspired by the intricate
Moorish decorations of the Alhambra Palace, especially its tessellating (tiling)
patterns; became known for his bizarre optical and conceptual prints. Quote:
"In my prints I try to show that we live in a beautiful and orderly world
and not in a chaos without norms as we sometimes seem to."
Pictures: Scrolling Birds, The Hands; Self Portrait]
[All M.C. Escher works (c) Cordon Art-Baarn-the Netherlands. All rights
reserved. Used by permission.]
John Richard Hersey 1914-1993
born in Tientsin, China; died in
Key West, Florida March 24, 1993; 1937-46 was foreign correspondent in East
Asia, Italy, and Russia for Time and Life magazines; 1945 published A Bell
for Adano, which won the Pulitzer Prize; 1946 wrote Hiroshima, planned as
a three-part series in the New Yorker, but the editors instead devoted nearly
the entire magazine to it on August 31, 1946; followed the lives of six survivors
of the nuclear bomb attack.
Other Birthdays
1239 06 17 Edward I, King of England (1272-1307)/chased Jews out of England
1604 06 17 Johan Maurits, count of Nassau-Siegen (Maurits House)
1682 06 17 Charles XII, King of Sweden (1697-1718)
1703 06 17 John B Wesley, England, religion co-founder (Methodists)
1714 06 17 Cesar F Cassini, de Thury, French astronomer (geodesic labor)
1725 06 17 Joseph Anton Bauer, composer
1742 06 17 William Hooper, US attorney (signed Decl of Independence)
1750 06 17 Michel Woldemar, composer
1756 06 17 Pierre-Joseph Cambon, French member of Committee of Salut Public
1810 06 17 F Freiligrath, writer
1811 06 17 Jon Sigurdsson, Iceland, leader/collects Icelandic legends
1817 06 17 Ivan K A‹vazovski, Russan painter (Harbor Scenes)
1817 06 17 Thomas Maley Harris, Bvt Mjr General (Union volunteers), died in 1906
1818 06 17 Charles Francois Gounod, Paris France, opera composer (Faust)
1818 06 17 Sophia Frederika Mathilde, queen of Netherlands/wife of William III
1823 06 17 John Henry Hobart Ward, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1903
1828 06 17 Jan K J de Jonge, Dutch historian
1830 06 17 Rochard Montgomery Gano, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1913
1832 06 17 William Crookes, English chemist/physicist (Crookes-pipe, thallium)
1837 06 17 Vincent Strong, civil war fighter, died in 1863
1838 06 17 Bankim C Chattopadhyaya, writer (Kapala-Kundala)
1838 06 17 Chattopadhyaya/Bankim Chandra, Bengalese writer (Monastery of Delight)
1845 06 17 Hendrik P Staal, Dutch banker
1855 06 17 Fritz Steinbach, composer
1858 06 17 Eben Sumner Draper, (Gov-MA)
1861 06 17 Sidney James Jones, composer
1867 06 17 John Robert Gregg, Ireland, inventor (shorthand)
1870 06 17 George Cormack, cereal inventor (Wheaties)
1871 06 17 James Weldon Johnson, lawyer (first black admitted to Florida Bar)
1871 06 17 Nicolae Iorga, writer/poet/literature historian/pres of Romania
1874 06 17 Grant Mitchell, Columbus OH, actor (Man Who Came to Dinner)
1875 06 17 Philipp A Kohnstamm, philosopher/theorist (Mensch & World)
1878 06 17 Albert Thomas, French socialist politician
1880 06 17 Carl Van Fight, US author/critic (Red, Nigger Heaven)
1880 06 17 Russell Simpson, actor (Abraham Lincoln)
1882 06 17 Igor F Stravinsky, Oranienbaum Russia, composer (Rite of Spring) [NS]
1883 06 17 Alexandre Cellier, composer
1884 06 17 Christina C Bakker-van Bosse, feminist/pacifist
1888 06 17 Bernhard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer, composer
1895 06 17 Louise Fazenda, Lafayette IN, actress/comédienne (Almost an actress)
1895 06 17 Slavko Osterc, composer
1898 06 17 Maurits C Escher, Dutch graphic artist
1900 06 17 Hermann Reuter, composer
1900 06 17 Martin Bormann, propoganda minister (Hitler)
1903 06 17 Michail Swetlow, writer
1904 06 17 Coenraad van Emde Boas, Dutch sexologist
1904 06 17 Ralph Bellamy, Chicago, actor (Air Mail, Dive Bomber, Trading Places)
1906 06 17 Thomas G Cowling, British mathematician/astronomer
1908 06 17 Frank Sully, St Louis MO, actor (Along Came Jones, Phantom Thief)
1908 06 17 Jacob Jimmy Herman Huizinga, journalist/Writer
1908 06 17 John Verrall, composer
1910 06 17 Herbert Owen Reed, composer
1910 06 17 Red Foley, Blue Lick Ky, country singer (Mr Smith Goes to Washington)
1912 06 17 Don Gillis, Cameron Missouri, composer (Symphony #5«)
1912 06 17 Wessel Couzijn, sculptor/cartoonist (Auschwitz-monument)
1913 06 17 Felix Hartlaub, writer
1914 06 17 John R Hersey, author (Hiroshima, Bell for Adano, Wall)
1915 06 17 Stringbean, [David Akeman], Ky, banjoist/comedian (Hee Haw)
1916 06 17 Einar Englund, composer
1916 06 17 Victor Dalby Lord, ficticious character on One Life to Live
1917 06 17 Dean Martin, Steubenville Ohio, singer/actor (with Jerry Lewis)
1918 06 17 Maldwyn Thomas, president (Welsh Liberal Party)
1919 06 17 Antonius C Ton Lutz, Dutch actor/director (Lucifer)
1919 06 17 Galina Ivanova Ustvol'skaya, composer
1919 06 17 Kingman Brewster, college president (Yale)
1919 06 17 Max Dendermonde, [Henk Hazelhoff], Dutch literary
1920 06 17 Beryl Reid, actress (Joseph Andrews, Psychomania, Yellowbeard)
1920 06 17 Fran‡ois Jacob, France, biologist/bacteriologist (Nobel 1965)
1920 06 17 Patrick Duffy, MP
1922 06 17 Herbert Kelsey Jones, composer
1922 06 17 Jerry Fielding, Pitts Pa, composer (Lively Ones, Hogan's Heroes)
1922 06 17 Paul Schallck, German writer (Don Quixote in Cologne)
1923 06 17 Elroy Crazylegs Hirsch, AAFC, NFL halfback, end (LA Rams)
1924 06 17 Althea T L Simmons, human rights activist/chief lobbyist (NAACP)
1924 06 17 Gotthold Gloger, writer
1924 06 17 Henk J Hoekstra, president (Dutch Communist Party)
1925 06 17 Keith Larsen, Salt Lake City Utah, actor (Hunter, Brave Eagle)
1926 06 17 Alan Walters, political economist
1926 06 17 Manuel Enriquez, composer
1927 06 17 Austin J Murphy, (Rep-D-PA, 1977- )
1927 06 17 Lucio Fulci, director
1928 06 17 James Brown, Pulaski TN, soul singer (Hot Pants, Living in America)
1929 06 17 Michael L Strang, (Rep-R-CO, 1985- )
1929 06 17 Tigran Petrosyan, USSR, world chess champion (1963-69)
1930 06 17 Brian Statham, cricketer
1930 06 17 James Gathers, Sumter SC, 200m runner (Olympic-bronze-1952)
1930 06 17 Romuald Twardowski, composer
1932 06 17 Derek Ibbotson, 5K runner (Oly-bronze-1956)
1932 06 17 John P Murtha, (Rep-D-PA, 1974- )
1933 06 17 Christian Ferras, French violinist/conductor
1937 06 17 Peter Lupus, actor (Mission Impossible)
1938 06 17 Judy Kimball-Simon, LPGA golfer
1939 06 17 Dickey Do, [Gerry Granahan], rocker (Dickey Doo & The Dont's)
1939 06 17 Donald Anderson, MP (Labour)
1939 06 17 Hanna Johansen, writer
1940 06 17 Bobby Bell, NFL linebacker (KC Chiefs)
1940 06 17 Tony Marlow, MP (Conservative)
1942 06 17 Norman Kuhlice, England, rocker (Swinging Blue Jeans-You're No Good)
1943 06 17 Christopher Brown, composer
1943 06 17 Newt[on] L Gingrich, (Rep-R-G, 1979- /Speaker of House 1995-97)
1944 06 17 Bill Rafferty, comedian (Real People, Laugh-in '77)
1944 06 17 Chris Spedding, rocker
1945 06 17 Eddy Merckx, Belgium, cyclist (5 time winner of Tour de France)
1945 06 17 Ken Livingstone, MP (Labour)
1945 06 17 Tony Roche, tennis coach
1946 06 17 Barry Manilow, Bkln NY, singer/pianist (Mandy, I Write the Songs)
1946 06 17 Marcy Kaptur, (Rep-D-HA, 1983- )
1948 06 17 David Concepcion, Venezuela, all star shortstop (Cincinnati Reds)
1948 06 17 Rubén Blades, Panama, singer/actor (Fatal Beauty, Critical Condition)
1949 06 17 Helen Rosenthal, British teacher/health administrator
1950 06 17 Cathy Sherk, LPGA golfer
1951 06 17 Joe Piscopo, Passaic NJ, comedian (SNL, Miller Lite commercials)
1954 06 17 Mark Linn-Baker, St Louis, actor (Larry Appleton-Perfect Strangers)
1956 06 17 Nicholas Cook, cricketer
1956 06 17 Nick Cook, cricketer (England lefty slow bowler in 15 Tests 1983-89)
1957 06 17 Philip Chevron, English pop musician (Pogues-Peace & Love)
1958 06 17 Dan McVicar, Independence Mo, actor (Clarke-Bold & Beautiful)
1960 06 17 Mitzi Edge, Albany GA, LPGA golfer (1995 SAFECO Classic)
1962 06 17 Ed Brady, NFL linebacker (Tampa Bay Bucs)
1963 06 17 Greg Kinnear, actor/talk show host (Talk Soup, Sabrina, Later)
1963 06 17 Kevin Glover, NFL center (Detroit Lions)
1964 06 17 Diane Murphy, actress (Tabitha Stevens-Bewitched)
1964 06 17 Erin Murphy, actress (Tabitha Stevens-Bewitched)
1964 06 17 Michael Gross, West Germany, swimmer (Olympic-2 world records-1984)
1964 06 17 Steve Rhodes, cricketer (England wicket-keeper 1994-95)
1965 06 17 Dan Jansen, West Allis Wisc, speed skater (Oly-gold-1984, 88, 92)
1965 06 17 Danny McManus, CFL quarterback (Edmonton Eskimos)
1965 06 17 Dermontti Dawson, NFL center (Pitts Steelers)
1965 06 17 Gianluca Pozzi, Bari Italy, tennis star (1991 Brisbane)
1965 06 17 Kami Cotler, Long Beach Calif, actress (Elizabeth-Waltons)
1965 06 17 Mike Magnante, Glendale CA, pitcher (KC Royals)
1965 06 17 Ray Seals, NFL defensive end (Pitts Steelers, Carolina Panthers)
1966 06 17 Clare Look-Jaeger, Milwaukee Wisconsin, high jumper
1966 06 17 Fred Barnett, NFL wide receiver (Phila Eagles)
1967 06 17 Keith Sims, NFL guard (Miami Dolphins)
1967 06 17 Pearl Sinn, LPGA golfer
1967 06 17 Robyn Meagher, Antigonish Nova Scotia, 5k runner (Olympics-96)
1967 06 17 Terry Davis, NBA forward/center (Dallas Mavericks, Wash Wizards)
1969 06 17 Karen Nystrom, ice hockey forward (Canada, Oly-Silver-98)
1969 06 17 Kevin Thornton, Amarillo, vocalist (Color Me Badd-Want to Sex You Up)
1969 06 17 Patric Kjellberg, hockey forward (Team Sweden Oly-1998)
1970 06 17 Arnold Ale, WLAF linebacker (Scottish Claymores)
1970 06 17 Jason Hanson, NFL kicker (Detroit Lions)
1970 06 17 Popeye Jones, NBA center (Toronto Raptors)
1970 06 17 Ron Popeye Jones, NBA forward (Dallas Mavericks)
1970 06 17 Stephane Fiset, Montreal, NHL goalie (Colorado Avalanche)
1971 06 17 Tripp Schwenk, US, 100m/200m backstroke (Olympics-silver-96)
1972 06 17 Dirk-Jan Derksen, Dutch soccer player (Roda JC)
1972 06 17 James McKnight, NFL wide receiver (Seattle Seahawks)
1975 06 17 Frederick Koehler, Queens NY, actor (Chip-Kate & Allie)
1975 06 17 Petra Vaarakallio, ice hockey center (Finland, Oly-98)
1977 06 17 Andrea Deak, Miss Universe-Hungary (1996)
1977 06 17 Bernardo Federico Tomas, Prince of Netherlands
1977 06 17 Jason Miller, Silver Springs Md, actor (New Mickey Mouse Club)
1978 06 17 Jenny Keim, Cin Ohio, diver (Olympics-9th-96)
1979 06 17 Cawey Schau, Seattle Wash, canoist (alt-Olympics-96)
1980 06 17 Andee Pickens, New Orleans La, gymnast (alt-Olympics-96)
1980 06 17 Brittney McConn, Largo Fla, figure skater (1997 Eastern Sr champ)
1980 06 17 Venus Williams, Lynwood Calif, tennis star
«« | Calendar | »» | Milestones |
|
born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, one of nineteen
children of an Anglican vicar; died in London March 2, 1791; Anglican clergyman,
evangelist, founder, with his brother Charles, of the Methodist movement
in the Church of England; at age 6 rescued by a neighbour from a burning
room in his father's rectory at Epworth (he often referred to himself in
later life as a "brand plucked from the burning"); educated at home by his
mother, Susanna, then at Charterhouse before obtaining an exhibition to Christ
Church in 1720; 1725 ordained priest in Christ Church Cathedral; joined a
small undergraduate group led by his brother Charles, known as the Methodists,
dedicated to regular (hence 'Methodist') devotions and good works; 1735 left
Oxford to be chaplian to the English community in Savannah, Georgia; May
24, 1738 felt his heart 'strangely warmed' at a meeting in Aldersgate Street,
London, and started off on an itinerant ministry, largely on horseback, throughout
the British Isles; preached in the open air, drawing large and sometimes
hostile crowds; organised followers into small groups of 'Societies', using
local people in teaching, administration and preaching; 1778 opened his chapel
in City Road, London; 1784 ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vazey for
work in North America - the decisive act in separating Methodism from the
Anglican Church. [picture: City Road Chapel]
born the son of a pastor in the Westfjords
of Iceland; died in Copenhagen, Denmark Dec. 7, 1879; scholar, statesman;
1833 went to Copenhagen to study history and other subjects at the University;
began to work at the Arnamagnæan Collection, and collected and edited
many Old Norse sagas and documents; married his cousin, Ingibjörg Einarsdóttir,
and they lived their lives in Copenhagen where their home became an Icelandic
Embassy; visited Iceland every other year to chair the meetings of the Althing,
an advisory body to the Danish government and King; led the struggle for
Icelandic self-government under Denmark; pointed out that in 1262 the Icelanders
had made a treaty with the King of Norway where they consented as a free
people to have him as their King with certain duties and rights. As Norway
became united with Denmark, so did Iceland; when the Danish King renounced
his dictatorial power in 1848 the Icelanders' old rights should have been
restored; 1874 the Danes granted Iceland a limited Constitution, on the thousandth
anniversary of the beginning of settlement of their country; a few years
later they granted Iceland complete home-rule in a personal union with Denmark.
Also on this day in 1944, Iceland proclaimed itself an independent republic
at Thingvallir after a referendum on disengaging from Denmark's rule.
born at Lomonosov, near St. Petersburg,
Russia; died in New York City April 6, 1971; modernist composer; 1913 his
tribal ballet, The Rite of Spring, was greeted by boos and a riot in the
audience, when it premiered at the Champs-Elysées Theater in Paris
with the Ballet Russe; also composed Petrushka, The Firebird; 1918 his work
The Soldiers Tale, written for a small ensemble, was influenced by American
jazz sheet music, though at the time he had never actually heard jazz; after
World War I, he moved to Paris and wrote the ballet Pulcinella; 1937 moved
to the US and lived in Hollywood during the 1940s; 1942 got a commission
from the Barnum and Bailey Circus to compose a Circus Polka for Young Elephants.
[pictures: with Nijinsky; by Picasso]
born Maurits Cornelius Escher in Leeuwarden,
Netherlands; died in Laren March 27, 1972; graphic artist; attended the School
for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem where he devoted himself
to the graphic arts, particularly woodcuts; 1923 inspired by the intricate
Moorish decorations of the Alhambra Palace, especially its tessellating (tiling)
patterns; became known for his bizarre optical and conceptual prints. Quote:
"In my prints I try to show that we live in a beautiful and orderly world
and not in a chaos without norms as we sometimes seem to."