Today in history...
Nov 5 1605
Parliament is scheduled for detonation in the notorious Gunpowder Plot, in which Catholic conspirators attempted to roll back protestantism in England. Thirty-six barrels of black powder were uncovered in the cellar, and fuses were found in Guy Fawkes' pocket. In consequence, Fawkes was beheaded. Britains now celebrate his death with warm beer and fireworks.
Nov 5 1975
Logger Travis Walton is abducted by aliens near Snowflake, Arizona and is missing for five days. Aliens performed "various experiments" on the abductee. One can only imagine this involved anal probes of some manner. Needless to say, Walton finds the experience immensely lucrative as his experiences are chronicled in the mediocre book Fire in the Sky and a very bad film by Paramount.
Nov 5 1979
Ayatollah Khomeini declares the US to be "The Great Satan". In return, Time Magazine later selects the ayatollah "Man of the Year".
Nov 5 1994
Ronald Reagan announces that he has Alzheimer's. For some people it merely confirms what they suspected all along. [trivia question: Which 1980's president fell asleep at an audience with the Pope?]
Birthdays today...
1271 - Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler (d. 1304)
1494 - Hans Sachs, German mastersinger (d. 1576)
1549 - Philippe de Mornay, French writer (d. 1623)
1592 - Charles Chauncy, English-born president of Harvard College (d. 1672)
1613 - Isaac de Benserade, French poet (d. 1691)
1615 - Ibrahim I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1648)
1667 - Christoph Ludwig Agricola, German painter (d. 1719)
1701 - Pietro Longhi, Venetian painter (d. 1785)
1715 - John Brown, English writer (d. 1766)
1722 - William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English duelist (d. 1798)
1742 - Richard Cosway, English artist (d. 1821)
1818 - Benjamin Franklin Butler, 33rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1893)
1835 - Moritz Szeps, Austrian journalist (d. 1902)
1846 - Duncan Gordon Boyes, English recipient of the Victoria Cross (d. 1869)
1850 - Ella Wheeler Wilcox, American author and poet (d. 1919)
1851 - Charles Dupuy, French prime minister (d. 1923)
1854 - Paul Sabatier, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
1854 - Alphonse Desjardins, founder of the Caisses populaires Desjardins (d. 1920)
1855 - Léon Teisserenc de Bort, French meteorologist (d. 1913)
1855 - Eugene V. Debs, American socialist leader (d. 1926)
1857 - Ida Tarbell, American journalist (d. 1944)
1873 - Edwin Flack, Australian athlete, double Olympic gold medallist in 1896. (d. 1935)
1881 - George A. Malcolm, American jurist & educator (d. 1961)
1884 - James Flecker, English writer (d. 1915)
1885 - Will Durant, American historian (d. 1981)
1887 - Paul Wittgenstein, Austrian-born pianist (d. 1961)
1890 - Jan Zrzavý, Czech painter (d. 1977)
1892 - J. B. S. Haldane, Scottish geneticist (d. 1964)
1895 - Walter Gieseking, French pianist (d. 1956)
1895 - Charles MacArthur, American author (d. 1956)
1900 - Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (d. 1972)
1900 - Natalie Schafer, American actress (d. 1991)
1904 - Cooney Weiland, Canadian hockey player (d. 1985)
1905 - Joel McCrea, American actor (d. 1990)
1906 - Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (d. 2004)
1906 - Endre Kabos, Hungarian Olympic champion fencer (d. 1944))
1911 - Roy Rogers, American actor (d. 1998)
1913 - Vivien Leigh, English actress (d. 1967)
1914 - Alton Tobey, American artist (d. 2005)
1917 - Jacqueline Auriol, French aviatrix (d. 2000)
1917 - Banarsi Das Gupta, Indian former Chief Minister of Haryana (d. 2007)
1919 - Hasan Askari, Pakistani philosopher (d. 1978)
1919 - Myron Floren, American accordianist The Lawrence Welk Show (d. 2005)
1920 - Douglass North, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
1921 - Georges Cziffra, Hungarian pianist (d. 1994)
1921 - Fawzia of Egypt, Queen of Iran
1922 - Violet Barclay, American illustrator
1931 - Ike Turner, American musician (d. 2007)
1934 - Victor Argo, American actor (d. 2004)
1935 - Lester Piggott, British jockey
1935 - Christopher Wood, English screenwriter and novellist
1936 - Michael Dertouzos, Greek internet pioneer, Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of the M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science (d. 2001)
1937 - Harris Yulin, American actor
1938 - Joe Dassin, French-speaking American singer (d. 1980)
1938 - César Luis Menotti, Argentine footballer
1938 - Jim Steranko, American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, publisher, and film production illustrator
1940 - Elke Sommer, German actress
1940 - Ted Kulongoski, American politician, governor of Oregon
1941 - Art Garfunkel, American musician
1943 - Friedman Paul Erhardt (Chef Tell), German-born American TV chef (d. 2007)
1943 - Sam Shepard, American playwright and actor
1945 - Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1945 - Aleka Papariga, Greek politician
1946 - Herman Brood, Dutch musician and artist (d. 2001)
1946 - Gram Parsons, American musician (d. 1973)
1947 - Peter Noone, English musician (Herman's Hermits)
1948 - Mel Ab-Owain, Welsh politician
1948 - Peter Hammill, British musician
1948 - Hridayananda dasa Goswami, ISKCON guru
1948 - Bernard-Henri Lévy, French public intellectual
1948 - William Daniel Phillips, American physicist, Nobel laureate
1949 - Armin Shimerman, American actor
1949 - Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (d. 1984)
1950 - Thorbjørn Jagland, former Norwegian prime minister
1952 - Bill Walton, American basketball player and commentator
1952 - Oleg Blokhin, Ukrainian footballer
1952 - Vandana Shiva, Indian physicist
1953 - Florentino V. Floro, Filipino dwarf judge
1953 - Joyce Maynard, American writer
1955 - Karan Thapar, Foremost Indian Journalist, Political Analyst & Commentator
1955 - Bernard Chazelle, French computer scientist
1955 - Nestor Serrano, American actor
1957 - Jon-Erik Hexum, American actor (d. 1984)
1958 - Don Falcone, American musician and producer
1958 - Robert Patrick, American actor
1959 - Bryan Adams, Canadian musician
1960 - Tilda Swinton, English actress
1961 - Gina Mastrogiacomo, American actress (d. 2001)
1961 - David Bryson, American guitarist and vocalist (Counting Crows)
1962 - Abédi Pelé, Ghanaian footballer
1962 - Marcus J. Ranum, American computer/network security innovator
1963 - Andrea McArdle, American actress
1963 - Tatum O'Neal, American actress
1964 - Tim Blake Nelson, American actor
1965 - Famke Janssen, Dutch model and actress
1965 - Kubrat, Prince of Panagiurishte, titular Bulgarian royal family
1966 - Georgia Apostolou, Greek actress
1966 - Nayim, Spanish footballer
1967 - Marcelo D2, Brazilian rapper
1968 - Sam Rockwell, American film actor
1968 - Judy Reyes, Dominican American actress
1968 - Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Spanish actress
1970 - Javy López, baseball player
1970 - Tamzin Outhwaite, English actress
1971 - Dana Jacobson, ESPN's First Take hostess
1971 - Rob Jones, English footballer
1971 - Corin Nemec, American actor
1971 - Jonny Greenwood, guitarist (Radiohead)
1971 - Sergei Berezin, National Hockey League player
1971 - Edmond Leung, Hong Kong singer
1973 - Johnny Damon, American baseball player
1973 - Alexei Yashin, Russian ice hockey player
1973 - Daniella Westbrook, English actress
1974 - Angela Gossow, German vocalist (Arch Enemy)
1974 - Dado Pršo, Croatian footballer
1974 - Jerry Stackhouse, American basketball player
1974 - Ryan Adams, American musician
1977 - Brittney Skye, American porn star
1977 - Richard Wright, English footballer
1979 - Mihalis Hatzigiannis, Greek-Cypriot songwriter and singer
1980 - Christoph Metzelder, German footballer
1980 - Jaime Camara, Brazilian racing driver
1980 - Eva González, Spanish model and beauty queen
1983 - Mike Hanke, German footballer
1983 - Andrew Hayden-Smith, TV presenter and actor
1984 - Nick Folk, American football player
1984 - Tobias Enstrom, Swedish hockey player
1985 - Kate DeAraugo, Australian Idol 2005
1985 - Tanaka Koki, Japanese idol (member of KAT-TUN)
1986 - BoA, Korean singer
1986 - Kasper Schmeichel, Danish footballer
1987 - Kevin Jonas, American guitarist
Famous deaths...
1370 - Casimir III the Great king of Poland
1515 - Mariotto Albertinelli, Italian painter (b. 1474)
1559 - Kano Motonobu, Japanese painter (b. 1476)
1660 - Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle, English socialite (b. 1599)
1660 - Alexandre de Rhodes, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)
1701 - Charles Gerard, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, French-born English politician (bc. 1659)
1714 - Bernardino Ramazzini, Italian physician (b. 1633)
1752 - Carl Andreas Duker, German classical scholar (b. 1670)
1758 - Hans Egede, Norwegian Lutheran missionary (b. 1686)
1828 - Maria Fyodorovna of Russia, second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia (b. 1759)
1836 - Karel Hynek Mácha, Czech poet (b. 1810)
1879 - James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist (b. 1831)
1923 - Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, French novelist (b. 1880)
1930 - Christiaan Eijkman, Dutch physician and pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1858)
1933 - Texas Guinan, American saloon keeper, actress, and musician (b. 1884)
1941 - Arndt Pekurinen, Finnish pacifist (b. 1905)
1942 - George M. Cohan, American musician, actor, writer, and composer (b. 1878)
1944 - Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1873)
1951 - Reggie Walker, South African athlete (b. 1889)
1955 - Maurice Utrillo, French artist (b. 1883)
1956 - Art Tatum, American musician (b. 1909)
1960 - Ward Bond, American actor (b. 1903)
1960 - Johnny Horton, country music singer (b.1925)
1960 - Mack Sennett, Canadian producer and director (b. 1880)
1964 - Lansdale Sasscer, U.S. Congressman for Maryland's 5th District (b. 1893)
1964 - Buddy Cole, American jazz pianist and orchestra leader (b. 1916)
1971 - Sam Jones, baseball player (b. 1925)
1974 - Stafford Repp, American actor (b. 1918)
1975 - Edward Lawrie Tatum, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1909)
1975 - Annette Kellerman, Australian swimmer (b. 1887)
1975 - Lionel Trilling, American critic and writer (b. 1905)
1977 - René Goscinny, French comic book writer (b. 1926)
1977 - Guy Lombardo, Canadian conductor (b. 1902)
1979 - Al Capp, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
1982 - Edward Hallett Carr, historian
1982 - Jacques Tati, French actor and director (b. 1908)
1985 - Spencer W. Kimball, twelfth president of The Church of of Latter-day Saints (b. 1895)
1985 - Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist (b. 1898)
1986 - Claude Jutra, Québécois actor and film director (b. 1930)
1986 - Bobby Nunn, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1925)
1987 - Eamonn Andrews, Television Presenter (b. 1922)
1989 - Vladimir Horowitz, Russian pianist (b. 1903)
1990 - Meir Kahane, Israeli rabbi and activist (b. 1932)
1991 - Fred MacMurray, American actor (b. 1908)
1991 - Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born media entrepreneur (b. 1923)
1992 - Arpad Elo, American physicist and chess player (b. 1903)
1996 - Eddie Harris, American saxophonist (b. 1934)
1997 - James Robert Baker, American novelist, screenwriter (b. 1946)
1997 - Isaiah Berlin, Latvian-born historian of ideas (b. 1909)
1997 - Epic Soundtracks, English musician (Swell Maps, Crime and the City Solution, These Immortal Souls) (b. 1959)
2000 - Victor Grinich, American businessman (b. 1924)
2000 - Bibi Titi Mohammed, Tanzanian politician (b.1926)
2000 - Jimmie Davis, singer and politician (b. 1899)
2001 - Roy Boulting, English film director and producer (b. 1913)
2001 - Barry Horne, a British animal liberation activist.
2002 - Billy Guy, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1936)
2003 - Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (b. 1940)
2005 - Rod Donald, New Zealand environmentalist (b. 1957)
2005 - John Fowles, English writer (b. 1926)
2005 - Virginia MacWatters, American soprano (b. 1912)
2006 - Bülent Ecevit, four term Turkish Prime Minister and poet(b. 1925)
2007 - Nils Liedholm, Swedish football midfielder and coach (b. 1922)
Holidays and observances...
United Kingdom, New Zealand and the province of Newfoundland & Labrador (Canada): Guy Fawkes Night (also called Bonfire night; or Fireworks night): Failure of the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament in 1605 is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks.
Have a great Wednesday.
~Brian
