Headline Birthdays for June 26

Pearl S. Buck 1892-1973

born in Hillsboro, West Virginia, to Presbyterian missionaries home on leave from China; died in Danby, Vermont March 6, 1973; author of over 85 books, and best known for her novels of life in China; grew up in China, but educated at Randolph-Macon Women's College; after graduation returned to China and lived there until 1934 except for a year spent at Cornell University, where she took an MA in 1926; 1930 published her first novel, East Wind, West Wind, followed by The Good Earth (1931), Sons (1932), and A House Divided (1935), her best selling trilogy on the saga of the Wang family; other works include The First Wife and Other Stories (1933), All Men are Brothers (a translation of the Chinese novel Shui Hu Chuan) (1933), The Mother (1934), and This Proud Heart ( 1938). The biographies of her mother and father, The Exile and Fighting Angel, were published in 1936 and later brought out together under the title of The Spirit and the Flesh (1944); 1938 awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. [pictures: Buck c1938; 1940s; the Sydenstricker family in about 1901: Pearl, Absalom, Grace, and Carie. Behind them stands Wang, the children's governess]

Willy Messerschmitt 1898-1978

born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany; died in Munich Sept. 17, 1978; aircraft engineer, designer; as a youth built flying models and hang gliders; 1917 tudied aviation and engineering at the Technische Hochschule of Munich; 1923 founded the Messerschmitt Aircraft Company in Bamberg; 1927 moved to Augsburg and merged with Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW); the Nazi government asked him to expand his production of sport and transport aircraft and build military planes; best kn own for the BF 108; Bf 109 (30,000 made); Bf 110; Me 262, the world's first operational jet fighter; Me 163 Komet, a rocket powered interceptor designed to attack bomber formations; Me 323, a 6-engined transport capable of carrying 18 tons; and Me 410, a fighter-bomber; his factories were badly bombed and he was arrested in 1945; 1948 tried by a German de-Nazification court and found to be a "relectant beneficiary" of the regime; left aviation and built sewing machines and motor scooters but in the mid-1950s started coproducing NATO aircraft and founded the Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm GmbH, an aerospace conglomorate that builds planes, missiles, spacecraft, and railroad and highway vehicles.

[pictures: 109, 262, Messerschmitt (right) discussing the Me 262's maiden flight with pilot Fritz Wendel]

William Lear 1902-1978

born in Hannibal, Missouri; died in Reno, Nevada May 14, 1978; electrical engineer, industrialist; left school in eighth grade; 1922 founded the Quincy Radio Laboratory; 1924 invented the first practical car radio and sold it to the Motorola Corporation; awarded over 100 patents for aircraft radios and navigation equipment, including the first practical radio compass for aircraft; 1940 introduced the Learmatic Navigator, a UHF device enabling pilots to automatically hold a course by tuning in radio broadcasts; after World War II , developed a series of miniature autopilots for fighter aircraft, then added an approach coupler to the device creating fully automatic landings in low visibility conditions;
his Lear Jet Corporation was the first mass-manufacturer of business jet aircraft in the world; also developed the eight-track stereo tape player for cars.

Frederic Williams 1911-1977

born in Stockport, Cheshire; died in Manchester Aug. 11, 1977; electrical engineer; best known for developing the Williams tube store, a cathode-ray-tube memory system that helped begin the computer age.

Helen Mirren 1946-

born in Essex, England to an English mother and a Russian father; actress; started working as a "blagger" to attract customers on to rides at a Southend on Sea amusement park; joined the National Youth Theatre; best known for her film work in Mosquito Coast, Excalibur, The Comfort of Strangers, The Long Good Friday and The Madness of King George; 1995 won Emmy Award [picture] for her hard-bitten police inspector Jane Tennison in the PBS series Prime Suspect (1992 and ongoing); recently played in a four-hour miniseries, Painted Lady, on Masterpiece Theater; also recently wed her long time partner, director Taylor Hackford (who directed her in White Nights).

Other Birthdays

1582 06 26 Johannes Schultz, composer
1655 06 26 Jean Deutz, merchant/Amsterdam regent
1702 06 26 Philip Doddridge, England, Dr/nonconformist clergyman
1730 06 26 Charles Joseph Messier, astronomer (cataloguer of M objects)
1742 06 26 Arthur Middleton, signer (Declaration of Independence)
1747 06 26 Leopold Jan Antonin Kozeluh, composer
1749 06 26 Louis Joseph Claude Saint-Amans, composer
1760 06 26 Johan I Jozef, monarch of Liechtenstein/fieldmarshal
1763 06 26 George Morland, England, artist of rural landscapes
1819 06 26 Abner Doubleday, Mjr Gen (Union)/inventor (baseball) [or 1/26]
1821 06 26 Bartolomé Mitre, Argentine general
1823 06 26 Frederick Bowen Jewson, composer
1824 06 26 Kelvin, [William Thomson], British physicist (Kelvin Scale)
1824 06 26 Moritz Furstenau, composer
1831 06 26 Julius Rodenberg, [Levy], German writer (Kriegs-Songs of War & Peace)
1837 06 26 Martin Davis Hardin II, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1923
1837 06 26 Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey, Brig General (Confederate Army)
1854 06 26 Robert Laird Borden, (C), 8th Canadian PM (1911-20)
1865 06 26 Bernard Berenson, art critic (Italian Painters of the Renaissance)
1865 06 26 Charles E Bonin, French explorer/diplomat (China)
1865 06 26 George C Pearce, actor (Country Kid, British Agent, Valiant)
1866 06 26 Josef Swickard, Coblenz Germany, actor (Lost City, Tale of 2 Cities)
1869 06 26 Martin Anderson Nex”, Danish poet/writer (Tabte Generation)
1874 06 26 Albert Relf, cricketer (England all-rounder in 13 Tests 1903-14)
1874 06 26 Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky, composer
1875 06 26 Camille Zeckwer, composer
1876 06 26 Nico[laas P] de Jong, Dutch radio play actor (Laughter & Tears)
1878 06 26 Albert Siklos, composer
1878 06 26 Ernest Torrence, Edinburgh Scotland, actor (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
1885 06 26 André Maurois, [Emile Herzog], French writer (Balzac)
1885 06 26 Anna M F van Wageningen-Salomons, author (Girl Student) [or 9/26]
1885 06 26 Billy Jenkins, [Erich Rosenthal], Magdeburg
1886 06 26 Margaretha C E Greta Beekman, actress (Wrong Poes)
1887 06 26 Anthony G de Rothschild, Britain, philanthropist
1891 06 26 Heinrich Lemacher, composer
1891 06 26 Sidney Coe Howard, US, dramatist (Swords, Pulitzer 1925)
1891 06 26 Vladislav Vancura, Czech physician/(stage)author/resistance fighter
1892 06 26 Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, China, author (Good Earth-Nobel 1938)
1893 06 26 Big Bill Broonzy, Miss, blues singer/guitarist (Blues by Broonzy)
1894 06 26 Bill Wirges, Buffalo NY, orch leader (Growing Paynes)
1894 06 26 Jeanne Eagels, actress (Rain, Under False Colors)
1895 06 26 Jankel Adler, Polish painter
1897 06 26 Viola Dana, Brooklyn, actress (Willow Tree, 40 Winks, Silent Lover)
1898 06 26 Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer
1900 06 26 Joseph E A Jo Spier, Dutch cartoonist/water color painter
1901 06 26 Stuart Symington, (Sen-D-Mo)
1901 06 26 William Busch, composer
1902 06 26 Antonia Brico, Rotterdam Holland, conductor/pianist (Antonia)
1902 06 26 William Lear, engineer/manufacturer/CEO (Lear Jet Corp)
1903 06 26 Ashley Clarke, president (Venice in Peril Fund)
1903 06 26 Floyd Babe Herman, Brooklyn Dodgers' slugger (.324 lifetime average)
1904 06 26 Peter Lorre, Hungarian/US, actor (M, Casablanca, Beast with 5 Fingers)
1905 06 26 Jack Longland, British director of education (Derbyshire)
1905 06 26 Jan Louis Guillaume Yvan Doornik, Neth resistance fighter in France
1906 06 26 Stefan Andres, German writer (Wir sind Utopia)
1909 06 26 Col Tom Parker, [Dries Van Kruijk], Neth, rock mgr (Elvis Presley)
1909 06 26 Betty Askwith, author
1909 06 26 Nicholas Polunin, environmentalist
1910 06 26 Charles Spry, Australian security chief
1911 06 26 Edward Levi, professor (Intro to Legal Reasoning)
1913 06 26 Babe [Mildred Ella] Didrikson, Port Arthur TX, hurdler (Oly-gold-32)
1913 06 26 Maurice Wilkes, inventor (stored program concept for computers)
1914 06 26 John J John Beautiful Garden, sculptor
1914 06 26 Laurie Lee, male poet/author (I Can't Stay Long)
1914 06 26 Richard Maltby, orch leader (Vaughn Monroe Show)
1914 06 26 Wolfgang Windgassen, Annemasse Germany, tenor (Stuttgart Opera)
1916 06 26 Alex Dreier, Honolulu Hawaii, newscaster (Whats it all about World?)
1916 06 26 Paul Derrick, co-operator/Christian socialist
1917 06 26 William Hamilton, British MP
1919 06 26 Jay Silverheels, actor (Tonto-Lone Ranger)
1919 06 26 Lord Rawlinson, British attorney general (Ewell)
1920 06 26 Michael Eastham, high court judge
1921 06 26 Abe Jan Koldijk, SS-physician (Limburg's family doctor)
1922 06 26 Alan Peacock, economist
1922 06 26 Campbell Adamson, CEO (Abbey National Pictures)
1922 06 26 Eleanor Parker, Ohio, actress (Caged, Detective Story, Hans Brinker)
1922 06 26 Frances Rafferty, Sioux City Iowa, actress (December Bride)
1923 06 26 David Haslam, British rear admiral (hydrographer)
1924 06 26 Peter Miles, British keeper of privy purse
1924 06 26 Syd Lawrence, bandleader (Syd Lawrence Orch)
1925 06 26 Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev, USSR, cosmonaut (Voskhod II)
1927 06 26 Leslie Carpenter, CEO (Reed International)
1928 06 26 Jacob Druckman, Philadelphia, composer (Animus I Auerole)
1929 06 26 Alexander Fenton, CEO (Euro Ethnological Research Center in Edinburgh)
1929 06 26 Francesco Cossiga, president of Italy (1985- )
1929 06 26 Ian Prestt, English ornithologist
1930 06 26 Willem G Statius Muller, Neth Antilles, conductor/pianist/composer
1931 06 26 Alan Bailey, British sect (dept of transport)
1931 06 26 Colin Wilson, author (Afterlife, Book of Great Mysteries)
1931 06 26 Lucien Goethals, composer
1932 06 26 Henry Bromfield, cricketer (S Afr off-spinner in 9 Tests 1961-65)
1933 06 26 Claudio Abbado, Milan Italy, composer/conductor (London Symph-1982)
1933 06 26 David Winnick, British MP
1933 06 26 Pat Morita, [Noriyuki], Calif, actor (Arnold-Happy Days, Karate Kid)
1934 06 26 John V Tunney, heavyweight boxing champion/(Rep/Sen-D-Calif)
1934 06 26 Josef Sommer, Germany, actor (Witness, Target, Iceman, Forced March)
1934 06 26 Luis Felipe Pires, composer
1935 06 26 Douglas Peterson, (Rep-D-Florida)
1936 06 26 Robert Maclennan, British MP
1937 06 26 Henk van der Meyden, Dutch journalist (de Telegraaf/Privé)
1937 06 26 Peter Pike, MP
1938 06 26 Neil Abercrombie, (Rep-D-Hawaii, 1986-88)
1939 06 26 Ansar Ilgamovich Sharafutdinov, Russian cosmonaut
1939 06 26 Charles Chuck Robb, (Sen-D-Va)/husband of Lynda Bird Johnson
1939 06 26 Smangaliso P Mkhatshwa, S Africa, sec-gen (Bishops' Conf 1983-88)
1940 06 26 Billy Davis Jr, St Louis Mo, singer (5th Dimension-One Less Bell)
1940 06 26 Robert Kramer, actor (A.K.)
1940 06 26 Vittorio Storaro, cinematographer (Taxi, Little Buddah, Dick Tracy)
1942 06 26 Larry Taylor, Brooklyn, rocker (Canned Heat-On the Road Again)
1943 06 26 Georgie Fame, rock vocalist (Get Away, Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde)
1943 06 26 Jean Knight, US singer (Mr Big Stuff)
1943 06 26 John Allen Strang, composer
1944 06 26 Ruth Kempson, linguist (SOAS)
1945 06 26 Barry Schrader, composer
1945 06 26 David Heyn, cricketer (Sri Lankan batsman 1975 World Cup)
1946 06 26 Clive Francis, London England, actor (Masada)
1946 06 26 Helen Mirren, England, actress (Madness of King George)
1948 06 26 Allen Michael Doyle, Woonsocket RI, PGA golfer (1991 Memorial-64th)
1951 06 26 Breyson Cooper, jockey
1951 06 26 Gary Gilmour, cricketer (exciting Aussie all-rounder 1973-77)
1951 06 26 Pamela Bellwood, [King], NYC, actress (Ellen-W.E.B., Claudia-Dynasty)
1951 06 26 Rindy Ross, Portland Oregon, rock vocalist/saxophonist (Quarterflash)
1952 06 26 Gordon McQueen, soccer player
1953 06 26 James Anderson, writer
1953 06 26 Ralph Ezell, Union Miss, singer (Shenandoah-Sunday in the South)
1954 06 26 Robert Davi, Astoria NY, opera singer/actor (Gangster Chronicles)
1955 06 26 Mary Margaret Brownie, RI, fictional ID of Prymaat (Coneheads)
1955 06 26 Mick Jones, London, rock vocalist/guitarist (Clash-Havana 3 AM)
1956 06 26 Azhar Cachalia, Scottish/S Afr leader (United Democratic Front)
1956 06 26 Bernard A Harris Jr, Temple Texas, MD/Astronaut (STS 55, 63)
1956 06 26 Chris Isaak, Stockton Ca, rock singer/songwriter (Wicked Game)
1956 06 26 Robert Davi, actor (License to Kill, Raw Deal, Wild Thing)
1957 06 26 Patty Smyth, NYC, rock vocalist (Scandal-Warrior)
1958 06 26 Glen Stewart Godwin, Miami Fla, murderer (FBI Most Wanted)
1960 06 26 Barbara Edwards, Albuqueque NM, playmate of year (Sept, 1983)/actress
1960 06 26 Jumpy Geathers, NFL defensive end (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1961 06 26 Greg LeMond, US bicyclist (Tour de France winner-1986, 1989, 1990)
1962 06 26 George P N earl of St Andrews, under English prince Edward
1962 06 26 Jerome Kersey, NBA forward (Golden State Warriors, Sea Supersonics)
1963 06 26 Devin Reneé De Vasquez, Baton Rouge La, playmate (June, 1985)/actress
1963 06 26 Harriet Wheeler, English pop singer/composer (The Sundays)
1963 06 26 Wendy Lucero-Schayes, Denver Co, US diver (Olympic-92)
1964 06 26 Alison Wyeth, Isle West Middlesex England, 1.5k/5k runner
1964 06 26 Pamela Wright, Scotland, LPGA golfer (1995 Jamie Farr Toledo-3rd)
1964 06 26 Zeng Jinlian, Hunan China, became tallest woman known (2.46 m, 8'1)
1966 06 26 Bryan Webb, horse trainer
1966 06 26 Kirk McLean, Toronto, NHL goalie (Vancouver Canucks)
1966 06 26 Paul Mokha, Erie Pa, rower (Olympics-1996)
1967 06 26 Travis Fine, Atlanta GA, actor (Ike McSwain-Young Riders)
1968 06 26 Shannon Sharpe, NFL tight end (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1969 06 26 Barry Kloeth, WLAF wide receiver (Amsterdam Admirals)
1969 06 26 Harry Boatswain, NFL tackle (Phila Eagles)
1969 06 26 Michael Myers, Cook County IL, pitcher (Detroit Tigers)
1969 06 26 Troy Auzenne, NFL tackle (Chic Bears)
1970 06 26 Chris O'Donnell, actor (School Ties, Robin-Batman Forever)
1970 06 26 Nicole Richardson, Australian softball outfielder (Olympics-bronze-96)
1971 06 26 Carlton Gray, NFL cornerback (Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts)
1971 06 26 Eddie Parenti, Montreal Quebec, 100m butterfly swimmer (Olympics-96)
1972 06 26 Jai Taurima, Australian long jumper (Olympics-96)
1972 06 26 Jerris McPhail, running back (Miami Dolphins)
1973 06 26 Aaron Jackson, Pitts Pa, actor (Mark Winkle-Calif Dreams)
1973 06 26 Mischa Smoking, soccer player (Dordrecht '90)
1973 06 26 Reggie Brown, NFL fullback (Seattle Seahawks)
1974 06 26 Derek Jeter, Pequanock NJ, shortstop (NY Yankees, Rookie of Year 1996)
1974 06 26 Dieter Kalt, hockey forward (Team Austria 1998)
1974 06 26 Jason Kendall, San Diego CA, catcher (Pitts Pirates)
1975 06 26 Umeki Webb, WNBA guard/forward (Phoenix Mercury)
1976 06 26 Ed Jovanoski, Windsor Ont, NHL defenseman (Florida Panthers)
1976 06 26 Mpumelo Mbangwa, cricketer (Zimbabwe pace bowler v Pakistan 1996)

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