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| George B. Seitz |
George B. SeitzGeorge Brackett Seitz ( January 3, 1888 – July 8, 1944 ) was a playwright, screenwriter, film actor and director who is known for his screenplays for action serials, including:
- The Perils of Pauline (1914),
- The Exploits of Elaine (1914), and
- The Iron Claw (1916).
Seitz was born in Boston, Massachusetts, started his career as a playwrite, but started work in Hollywood in 1913. He was the director of 107 films, the writer of 31 screenplays, and an actor in 7 films. He worked at Columbia Pictures and at MGM where he directed 11 of the Andy Hardy series of films of the 1930s & 1940s. He died in Hollywood, California.
References
- [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0782707/bio Biography for George B. Seitz]
- [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0782707/ Filmography for George B. Seitz]
Seitz, George B.
Seitz, George B.
Seitz, George B.
Seitz, George B.
January 3
January 3 is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. 362 days (363 during leap years) remain in the year after this day.
Events
- 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
- 1496 - Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine
- 1521 - Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
- 1749 - Benning Wentworth issues the first of the New Hampshire Grants, leading to the establishment of Vermont.
- 1777 - Battle of Princeton. American general George Washington defeats British general Charles Cornwallis.
- 1815 - Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia.
- 1823 - Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico
- 1833 - Britain seizes control of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
- 1834 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City
- 1840 - One of the Herald Sun of Melbourne, Australia's predecessor papers The Port Phillip Herald is founded by George Cavanaugh.
- 1852 - First Chinese arrive in Hawaii.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Delaware votes not to secede from the United States
- 1868 - The Japanese Meiji dynasty is restored and the Shogunate is abolished.
- 1870 - The Brooklyn Bridge begins construction.
- 1888 - The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
- 1899 - The first known use of the word automobile, in an editorial in the New York Times.
- 1920 - Curse of the Bambino: The Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for a sum of $125,000 and a loan of more than $300,000.
- 1921 - Turkey makes peace with Armenia.
- 1925 - Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
- 1926 - General Theodorus Pángulos names himself dictator of Greece.
- 1938 - The March of Dimes is established by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1947 - Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
- 1951 - Dragnet airs on television for the first time (NBC).
- 1957 - Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
- 1958 - The West Indies Federation is formed.
- 1959 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
- 1961 - The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
- 1961 - The SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho leaks radiation, killing three workers at the installation. The radiation is contained.
- 1962 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
- 1966 - The first Acid Test at the Fillmore, San Francisco, California.
- 1973 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $12 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner.
- 1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- 1990 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
- 1991 - Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky scores his 700th goal.
- 1993 - In Moscow, George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
- 1994 - An Aeroflot Tupolev TU-154 crashes and explodes after takeoff from Irkhutsk, Russia killing 125 including 1 on the ground
- 1997 - NBC's Today show host Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time.
- 1999 - The Mars Polar Lander launched.
- 2000 - The last "Peanuts" comic strip is created by Charles Schulz.
- 2004 - Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard.
Births
- 106 BC - Cicero, Roman statesman and philosopher (d. 43 BC)
- AD 1196 - Emperor Tsuchimikado of Japan (d. 1231)
- 1710 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. 1796)
- 1719 - Francisco José Freire, Portuguese historian and philologist (d. 1773)
- 1722 - Fredric Hasselquist, Swedish naturalist (d. 1752)
- 1778 - Antoni Melchior Fijałkowski, Polish bishop (d. 1861)
- 1793 - Lucretia Mott, American women's rights activist and abolitionist (d. 1880)
- 1803 - Douglas William Jerrold, British playwright and satirist (d. 1857)
- 1840 - Father Damien, Belgian missionary in Hawaii (d. 1889)
- 1855 - Hubert Bland, English socialist (d. 1914)
- 1879 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
- 1883 - Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1967)
- 1887 - August Macke, German painter (d. 1914)
- 1892 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer and philologist (d. 1973)
- 1894 - Pola Negri, Polish actress (d. 1987)
- 1894 - ZaSu Pitts, American actress (d. 1963)
- 1897 - Marion Davies, American actress (d. 1961)
- 1901 - Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam (d. 1963)
- 1905 - Anna May Wong, American actress (d. 1961)
- 1907 - Ray Milland, Welsh actor (d. 1986)
- 1909 - Victor Borge, Danish entertainer and humorist (d. 2000)
- 1911 - John Sturges, American director (d. 1982)
- 1912 - Armand Lohikoski, Finnish director (d. 2005)
- 1916 - John Joseph Allen, Staten Island NY
- 1916 - Betty Furness, American actress and consumer activist (d. 1994)
- 1917 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (d. 2004)
- 1920 - Renato Carosone, Italian musician and singer (d. 2001)
- 1924 - Nell Rankin, American soprano (d. 2005)
- 1924 - Hank Stram, American football coach and broadcaster
- 1926 - George Martin, English producer of The Beatles' records
- 1929 - Sergio Leone, Italian director (d. 1989)
- 1930 - Robert Loggia, American actor
- 1932 - Dabney Coleman, American actor
- 1932 - Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (d. 2005)
- 1936 - Georgina Spelvin, actress
- 1939 - Bobby Hull, Canadian hockey player
- 1941 - Van Dyke Parks, American musician, composer
- 1942 - John Thaw, British actor (d. 2002)
- 1945 - Stephen Stills, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
- 1946 - John Paul Jones, English bassist (Led Zeppelin)
- 1946 - Victoria Principal, American actress
- 1956 - Mel Gibson, Australian actor and director
- 1957 - Bojan Križ, Slovenian skier
- 1960 - Joan Chen, Chinese actress
- 1969 - Michael Schumacher, German race car driver
- 1975 - Jason Marsden, American actor
- 1975 - Danica McKellar, American actress
- 1976 - Nicholas Gonzalez, American actor
- 1981 - Eli Manning, American football player
- 1989 - Alex D. Linz, American actor
Deaths
- 722 - Empress Gemmei of Japan (b. 661)
- 1322 - King Philip V of France (b. 1293)
- 1437 - Catherine of Valois, queen of Henry VI of England (b. 1401)
- 1543 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, Portuguese explorer (b. 1499)
- 1641 - Jeremiah Horrocks, English astronomer
- 1656 - Mathieu Molé, French statesman (b. 1584)
- 1670 - George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle, English soldier (b. 1608)
- 1690 - Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1615)
- 1779 - Claude Bourgelat, French veterinary surgeon (b. 1712)
- 1785 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (b. 1706)
- 1795 - Josiah Wedgwood, English potter (b. 1730)
- 1826 - Louis Gabriel Suchet, French marshal (b. 1770)
- 1875 - Pierre Larousse, French editor and encyclopedist (b. 1817)
- 1923 - Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist (b. 1883)
- 1927 - Carle David Tolmé Runge, German physicist (b. 1856)
- 1933 - Jack Pickford, Canadian actor (b. 1896)
- 1945 - Edgar Cayce, American psychic (b. 1877)
- 1946 - William Joyce, American Nazi propagandist (executed) (b. 1906)
- 1950 - Emil Jannings, Swiss actor (b. 1884)
- 1956 - Alexander Gretchaninov, Russian composer (b. 1864)
- 1963 - Jack Carson, Canadian actor (b. 1910)
- 1967 - Mary Garden, Scottish soprano (b. 1874)
- 1967 - Jack Ruby, American killer of Lee Harvey Oswald (b. 1911)
- 1979 - Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (b. 1887)
- 1980 - Joy Adamson, Czech conservationist and author (b. 1910)
- 1981 - Princess Alice of Albany (b. 1883)
- 1988 - Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
- 1992 - Dame Judith Anderson, Australian actress (b. 1897)
- 2001 - José Greco, Italian-born flamenco dancer (b. 1918)
- 2002 - Esquivel, Mexican band leader and composer (b. 1918)
- 2002 - Freddy Heineken, Dutch beer executive (b. 1923)
- 2003 - Sid Gillman, American football coach (b. 1911)
- 2004 - Leon Wagner, baseball player (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Koo Chen-fu, Chinese negotiator (b. 1917)
- 2005 - JN Dixit, Indian government official (b. 1936)
- 2005 - Will Eisner, American comic book artist (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances
- Feast day of St Genevieve
- Roman Empire - Festival in honour of Pax
- The ninth day and tenth night of Christmas in Western Christianity
- In astronomy the best date to view the Quadrantids meteor shower.
- In astronomy the approximate date of Earth's perihelion.
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/3 BBC: On This Day]
----
January 2 - January 4 - December 3 - February 3 — listing of all days
ko:1월 3일
ja:1月3日
simple:January 3
th:3 มกราคม
July 8July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining.
Events
- 1099 - First Crusade: 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march in religious procession around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders mock them.
- 1283 - Battle of Malta
- 1497 - Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India.
- 1663 - Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island.
- 1680 - The first confirmed tornado in America kills a servant at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1709 - Battle of Poltava: Peter I of Russia defeats Charles XII of Sweden at Poltava thus effectively ending Sweden's role as a major power in Europe.
- 1716 - Battle of Dynekilen
- 1758 - French and Indian War: French forces hold Fort Carillon against British at Ticonderoga, New York.
- 1760 - French and Indian War: Battle of the Ristigouche - British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France.
- 1775 - The Olive Branch Petition is adopted by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies.
- 1776 - The Liberty Bell was rung to summon citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress.
- 1822 - Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom.
- 1859 - King Charles XV / Carl IV accedes to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
- 1889 - The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published.
- 1889 - At the last championship bare-knuckle boxing match, John L. Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain after 75 rounds.
- 1892 - St. John's, Newfoundland was devastated in the Great Fire of 1892.
- 1896 - William Jennings Bryan delivers his Cross of Gold speech in Chicago, Illinois.
- 1932 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22.
- 1933 - The Pittsburgh Steelers are found by Arthur Joseph Rooney. The team is the 5th oldest in the NFL.
- 1947 - Reports are broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico.
- 1966 - King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi was deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi.
- 1969 - IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.
- 1980 - State of Origin, Rugby League is born.
- 1982 - Senegalese Trotskyist political party LCT is legally recognized.
- 1990 - At 12:34:56 (both AM and PM) the time and date by US reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90.
- 1992 - Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe Helsinki Summit creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).
- 1997 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting-drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.
- 1997 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
- 1999 - Allen Lee Davis is executed by electrocution by the state of Florida. That is the last use of the Electric Chair for capital punishment in Florida.
- 2000 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in J.K. Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter series, is published.
Births
- 1528 - Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (d. 1580)
- 1545 - Prince Don Carlos of Spain (d. 1568)
- 1593 - Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (d. 1653)
- 1621 - Jean de la Fontaine, French writer (d. 1695)
- 1760 - Christian Kramp, French mathematician (d. 1826)
- 1766 - Dominique Jean Larrey, French surgeon (d. 1842)
- 1819 - Francis Leopold McClintock, British naval officer and explorer (d. 1907)
- 1836 - Joseph Chamberlain, British politician (d. 1914)
- 1838 - Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin, German inventor (d. 1917)
- 1839 - John D. Rockefeller, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1937)
- 1851 - Arthur Evans, English archaeologist (d. 1941)
- 1867 - Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1945)
- 1878 - Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945)
- 1882 - Percy Grainger, Australian composer (d. 1961)
- 1885 - Ernst Bloch, German philosopher (d. 1977)
- 1892 - Richard Aldington, English poet (d. 1962)
- 1895 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1904 - Henri Cartan, French mathematician
- 1906 - Philip Johnson, American architect (d. 2005)
- 1908 - Louis Jordan, American singer and saxophonist (d. 1975)
- 1908 - Nelson A. Rockefeller, Vice President of the United States (d. 1979)
- 1914 - Jyoti Basu, Indian politician
- 1914 - Billy Eckstine, American jazz singer and bandleader (d. 1993)
- 1918 - Craig Stevens, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1919 - Walter Scheel, German politician
- 1923 - Harrison Dillard, American athlete
- 1926 - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Swiss-born psychiatrist (d. 2004)
- 1932 - Jerry Vale, American singer
- 1933 - Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (d. 1982)
- 1935 - Steve Lawrence, American entertainer and singer
- 1935 - Vitali Sevastyanov, cosmonaut
- 1941 - Dario Gradi, Italian-born football manager
- 1942 - Phil Gramm, American politician
- 1945 - Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss Federal Councilor
- 1947 - Kim Darby, American actress
- 1951 - Anjelica Huston, American actress
- 1958 - Kevin Bacon, American actor
- 1961 - Toby Keith, American singer
- 1968 - Billy Crudup, American actor
- 1970 - Beck, American singer
- 1972 - Saurav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
- 1975 - Kathleen Robertson, Canadian actress
- 1976 - Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan footballer
- 1977 - Wang Zhizhi, Chinese basketball player
- 1980 - Robbie Keane, Irish footballer
- 1981 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- 1982 - Hakim Warrick, American basketball player
- 1984 - Alexis Dziena, American actress
Deaths
- 810 - Pepin, King of Italy (b. 773)
- 975 - King Edgar of England
- 1153 - Pope Eugene III
- 1538 - Diego de Almagro, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1623 - Pope Gregory XV (b. 1554)
- 1689 - Edward Wooster, English Connecticut pioneer (b. 1622)
- 1695 - Christiaan Huygens, Dutch scientist (b. 1629)
- 1716 - Robert South, English churchman (b. 1634)
- 1721 - Elihu Yale, American benefactor of Yale University (b. 1649)
- 1726 - John Ker, Scottish spy (b. 1673)
- 1822 - Percy Bysshe Shelley, English poet (b. 1792)
- 1826 - Luther Martin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States (b. 1748)
- 1850 - Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge (b. 1774)
- 1855 - Sir William Edward Parry, British admiral and Arctic explorer (b. 1790)
- 1859 - King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway (b. 1799)
- 1905 - Walter Kittredge, American musician and composer (b. 1834)
- 1917 - Tom Thomson, Canadian painter (b. 1877)
- 1933 - Anthony Hope, British author (b. 1863)
- 1934 - Benjamin Baillaud, French astronomer (b. 1848)
- 1939 - Havelock Ellis, British physician and psychologist (b. 1859)
- 1943 - Jean Moulin, French Resistance leader (b. 1899)
- 1950 - Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist (b. 1878)
- 1957 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (b. 1879)
- 1973 - Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1979 - Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1979 - Robert B. Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 1986 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (b. 1909)
- 1987 - Gerardo Diego, Spanish poet (b. 1896)
- 1988 - Ray Barbuti, American athlete (b. 1905)
- 1990 - Howard Duff, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1994 - Kim Il Sung, North Korean leader (b. 1912)
- 1999 - Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)
- 2001 - John O'Shea, New Zealand film director (b. 1920)
- 2002 - Ward Kimball, American animator (b. 1914)
- 2004 - Paula Danziger, American author (b. 1944)
Holidays and observances
- Feast day of Saint Grimbald
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/8 BBC: On This Day]
----
July 7 - July 9 - June 8 - August 8 -- listing of all days
ko:7월 8일
ms:8 Julai
ja:7月8日
simple:July 8
th:8 กรกฎาคม
1944
1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar).
Events
January
- January 4 - The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
- January 5 - Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munk.
- January 14 - The Soviet troops start the offensive at Leningrad and Novgorod.
- January 17 - British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River.
- January 17 - Meat Rationing ends in Australia.
- January 20 - The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. The U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division, in Italy, attempts to cross the Rapido River.
- January 22 - Allies begin Operation Shingle, the assault on Anzio, Italy. The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division stand their ground at Anzio against violent assaults for 4 months.
- January 27 - The two year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
- January 29 - The Battle of Cisterna takes place.
- January 30 - United States troops invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.
- January 31 - American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
February
- February 1 - United States troops land in the Marshall Islands.
- February 3 - United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
- February 7 - In Anzio, Italian forces launch a counteroffensive.
- February 14 - Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.
- February 15 - Battle of Monte Cassino - the monastery atop Monte Cassino is destroyed by Allied bombing.
- February 17 - Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.
- February 20 - "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
- February 20 - The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- February 29 - The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
March
- March - The Japanese launch an offensive in central and south China.
- March 1 - USS Tarawa and USS Kearsarge laid down.
- March 1 - Anti-fascist strike in northern Italy.
- March 2 - Train stalls inside a railway tunnel outside Salerno, Italy - 426 choke to death
- March 3 - The Order of Nakhimov and the Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR
- March 10 - In Britain the Education Act lifts the ban on women teachers marrying.
- March 12 - The Creation of the politic Committee of national liberation in Greece.
- March 15 - Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb German-held monastery and stage an assault.
- March 15 - The National Counsil of the French Resistance approves the Resistance programme.
- March 17 - The hitlerists assassinate at Rîbniţa almost 400 prisoners, Soviet citizens and anti-fascist Romanians.
- March 18 - German forces occupy Hungary.
- March 20 - RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany and he has to bail out without a parachute from the height of over 4000 meters. Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow
May
- May 5 - Mohandas Gandhi released in India.
- May 9 - Soviet troops liberate Sevastopol.
- May 12 - Soviet troops finalize the liberation of Crimea.
- May 18 - Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
- May 18 - Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
June
Soviet Union].
- June 2 - The provisional French government is established.
- June 4 - A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505, marking the first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
- June 4 - American, English and French troops enter Rome.
- June 5 - Rome falls to the Allies. It is the first capital of an Axis nation to fall.
- June 5 - More than 1000 British bombers drop 5000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
- June 6 - Battle of Normandy begins - Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
- June 9 - Stalin launches an offensive against Finland with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing for Berlin.
- June 10 - 642 men, women and children are killed in the Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre in France.
- June 13 - Germany launches a V1 Flying Bomb attack on England.
- June 15 - Battle of Saipan: The United States invades Saipan.
- June 17 - The proclamation of the Republic of Iceland.
- June 22 - Operation Bagration: General attack by Soviet forces to clear the German forces from Belarus which resulted in the destruction of the German Army Group Centre, possibly the greatest defeat of the Wehrmacht during WWII.
- June 25 - The Battle of Tali-Ihantala between Finnish and Soviet troops begins. Largest battle ever to be fought in the Nordic countries.
- June 26 - American troops enter Cherbourg.
July
- July 3 - Soviet troops liberate Minsk.
- July 9 - British and Canadian forces capture Caen.
- July 10 - Soviet troops start the operations for freeing the Baltic countries.
- July 13 - Liberation of Vilnius.
- July 17 - The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax, Nova Scotia under Royal Canadian Navy protection.
- July 17 - SS E.A.Bryan, loaded with ammunition, explodes in the Port Chicago naval base - 320 dead
- July 18 - Hideki Tojo resigns as Prime Minister of Japan due to numerous setbacks in the war effort.
- July 20 - Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt. See Claus von Stauffenberg
- July 21 - Battle of Guam - American troops land on Guam starting the battle (ends on August 10).
- July 21 - The creation of the Polish Committee for national liberation.
- July 25 - Operation Spring - One of the bloodiest days for Canadians during the war: 18,444 casualties, including 5,021 killed.
August
- August 1 - Warsaw Uprising begins.
- August 2 - Turkey ends diplomatic and economic relations with Germany.
- August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- August 12 - Allies capture Florence, Italy.
- August 12 - World's first undersea oil pipeline laid, between England and France in Operation Pluto
- August 15 - Operation Dragoon lands Allies in southern France. U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division participates in its fourth assault landing at St. Maxime, spearheading the drive for the Belfort Gap.
- August 19 - (August 25) Victorious insurrection in Paris.
- August 23 - Ion Antonescu, prime minister of Romania, is arrested and a new government is established. Romania exits the war against Russia joining the Allies.
- August 24 - Allies enter Paris.
- August 25 - Hungary decides to continue the war together with Germany.
- August 29 - Slovak National Uprising begins
September
- September 1 - In Bulgaria, the Bagrianov government resigns.
- September 2 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- September 3 - Allies liberate Brussels.
- September 4 - The British 11th Armored Division liberates the city of Antwerp in Belgium.
- September 4 - Finland breaks off relations with Germany.
- September 5 - The Soviets declare war on Bulgaria.
- September 7 - The Belgian government returns from exile in Britain.
- September 8 - London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time.
- September 8 - The French town of Menton is liberated from Germany.
- September 9 - Insurrection in Sofia.
- September 11 - Northern and southern France invasion forces link up near Dijon.
- September 17 - Operation Market Garden begins.
- September 19 - Armistice between Finland and Soviet Union signed. (End of the Continuation War)
- September 24 - The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division takes the strongly defended city of Epinal before crossing the Moselle River and entering the western foothills of the Vosges.
- September 26 - Operation Market Garden ends in an Allied withdrawal.
October
- October 2 - Warsaw Uprising ends.
- October 5 - Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.
- October 9 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin begin a nine-day conference in Moscow to discuss the future of Europe.
- October 12 - The Allies land at Athens.
- October 13 - Riga, the capital of Latvia is liberated by the Red Army.
- October 14 - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
- October 18 - Volkssturm founded on Hitler's orders.
- October 20 - Belgrade is liberated by Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army.
- October 20 - LNG explosion destroys a square mile (2.6 km²) of Cleveland, Ohio
- October 21 - Aachen is the first German city to fall.
- October 23 - Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines begins (lasts until October 26).
- October 25 - Florence Foster Jenkins recital in the Carnegie Hall
- October 25 - Red Army liberates Kirkenes, the first town in Norway to be liberated from German occupation.
- October 31 - Mass murderer Marcel Petiot is apprehended in Paris metro station
November-December
- November 6 - Two Lehi assassins kill Lord Moyne in Cairo
- November 12 - East Turkestan Republic declared
- November 12 - The Royal Air Force carries out one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of the war, sinking the German battleship Tirpitz off the coast of Norway.
- November 19 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
- November 24 - Bombing of Tokyo - The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital of Tokyo from the east and by land was made by 88 American aircraft.
- November 25 - A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, killing 160 shoppers.
- November 26 - Gas chambers at Auschwitz and Stutthof are destroyed.
- November 29 - Albania is liberated from German occupation.
- December 16 - Germany begins the Ardennes offensive, later to become known as Battle of the Bulge.
- December 16 - General George C. Marshall becomes the first Five-Star General
- December 17 - German troops carry out the Malmédy massacre.
- December 24 - The Bulge reaches its deepest point at Celles.
- December 26 - American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.
- December 31 - Hungary declares war on Germany
Other events
January-July
- January 5 - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
- February 26 - - Shooting begins of the Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuehrer Gives a Village to the Jews" in Theresienstadt.
- March 1 - USS Tarawa laid down
- March 4 - In Ossining, New York, Louis Buchalter, the leader of 1930s crime syndicate Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing.
- March 24 - In the Polish village of Markowa, German police kill Józef and Wiktoria Ulm, their six children and eight Jewish people they were hiding.
- April 25 - The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
- May 30 - Princess Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet Grimaldi of Monaco, heir to the throne resigns from her rights in favor of her son Prince Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi, later reigning Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
- June 17 - Iceland declares full independence from Denmark.
- July 1 - Start of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
- July 6 - A fire broke out during a performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus in Hartford, Connecticut, resulting in the deaths of 168 people, most of them children. See Hartford Circus Fire
- July 17 - Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition for the war explode in Port Chicago, California killing 232.
- July 22 - End of Bretton Woods conference and signing of Agreements.
August-November
- August 4 - Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family.
- August 5 - Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
- August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- August 9 - The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey the Bear for the first time.
- September 2 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- October 2 - Holocaust: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
- October 8 - The radio show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts.
- October 10 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins reelection over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey to become the only U.S. president to be elected to a fourth term.
- November 22 - William Lyon Mackenzie King introduces conscription in Canada (see Conscription Crisis of 1944).
December
- December 3 - Civil war breaks out in a newly-liberated Greece, between Communists and royalists.
- December 1 - Edward Stettinius Jr. becomes becomes the last United States Secretary of State of the Roosevelt administration, by filling the seat left by the Cordell Hull.
- December 26 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
- December 30 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.
Unknown dates
- In Sweden, the law of 1864 that criminalizes homosexuality is abolished.
- Swedish author of children's books Astrid Lindgren publishes her first book Pippi Longstocking.
- In Sweden, Erik Wallenberg and Ruben Rausing invent a way to package milk in paper and start the company Tetra Pak.
- Barbados General election - Grantley Adams, black lawyer, first majority party leader in the House of Assembly, as leader of Barbados Labour Party
- Hans Asperger publishes his paper on Asperger's Syndrome
- The Mad Gasser of Mattoon carries out a series of mysterious attacks in Mattoon, Illinois.
- National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence established.
Ongoing events
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Births
For more 1944 births see :Category:1944 births
January
- January 2 - Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
- January 6 - Bonnie Franklin, American actress
- January 6 - Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 9 - Jimmy Page, English guitarist (Led Zeppelin)
- January 12 - Joe Frazier, American boxer
- January 17 - Françoise Hardy, French singer
- January 18 - Paul Keating, twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia
- January 23 - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
- January 24 - Neil Diamond, American singer
- January 26 - Angela Davis, American feminist and activist
- January 27 - Mairead Corrigan, Irish activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- January 27 - Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)
February
- February 3 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)
- February 5 - Al Kooper, American musician (Blood, Sweat, and Tears)
- February 5 - Michael Mann, American film, director, writer, producer
- February 9 - Alice Walker, American writer
- February 10 - Vernor Vinge, American writer
- February 11 - Michael G. Oxley, American politician
- February 13 - Stockard Channing, American actress
- February 13 - Jerry Springer, English-born television host
- February 14 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist
- February 14 - Alan Parker, English-born film director, actor, and writer
- February 16 - Richard Ford, American writer
- February 17 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer
- February 20 - Willem van Hanegem, Dutch football player and coach
- February 22 - Jonathan Demme, American film director, producer, and writer
- February 22 - Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
- February 23 - Johnny Winter, American musician
- February 24 - Nicky Hopkins, British musician (d. 1994)
- February 28 - Sepp Maier, German footballer
March
- March 1 - John Breaux, U.S. Senator from Louisiana
- March 1 - Roger Daltrey, English musician (The Who)
- March 2 - Uschi Glas, German actress
- March 6 - Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano
- March 11 - Don MacLean, British comedian
- March 15 - Sly Stone, American singer
- March 17 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter (The Lovin' Spoonful)
- March 19 - Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
- March 19 - Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian assassin of Robert F. Kennedy
- March 24 - R. Lee Ermey, U.S. Marine and actor
- March 26 - Diana Ross, American singer
- March 28 - Rick Barry, American basketball player
- March 29 - Denny McLain, baseball player
April
- April 3 - Tony Orlando, American musician
- April 4 - Craig T. Nelson, American actor
- April 6 - Felicity Palmer, English soprano
- April 7 - Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
- April 8 - Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
- April 11 - John Milius, American film director, producer, and screenwriter
- April 19 - James Heckman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 22 - Steve Fossett, American millionaire adventurer
- April 28 - Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Belgian politician
- April 29 - Richard Kline, American actor and television director
- April 30 - Jill Clayburgh, American actress
May
- May 1 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
- May 5 - John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor
- May 8 - Gary Glitter, English singer
- May 9 - Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)
- May 10 - Jim Abrahams, American film director
- May 13 - Armistead Maupin, American author
- May 12 - Sara Kestelman, British actor
- May 14 - George Lucas, American film director and producer
- May 20 - Joe Cocker, British singer
- May 20 - Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
- May 20 - Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
- May 21 - Mary Robinson, President of Ireland
- May 25 - Frank Oz, English puppeteer and film director
- May 28 - Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City
- May 28 - Gladys Knight, American singer
- May 30 - Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
June-October
- June 3 - Edith McGuire, American sprinter
- June 5 - Tommie Smith, American athlete
- June 6 - Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 8 - Mark Belanger, baseball player (d. 1998)
- June 24 - Jeff Beck, British musician
- June 29 - Gary Busey, American actor
- June 30 - Raymond Moody, parapsychologist
- July 13 - Ernő Rubik, Hungarian inventor
- July 17 - Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricket captains
- July 21 - Tony Scott, English film director
- July 21 - Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (d. 2002)
- July 27 - Tony Capstick, English comedian, actor, and musician (d. 2003)
- July 31 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- July 31 - Robert Carhart Merton, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 2 - Jim Capaldi, British drummer, singer, and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
- August 4 - Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian
- August 8 - Brooke Bundy, American actress
- August 9 - Sam Elliott, American actor
- August 11 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
- August 21 - Peter Weir, Australian film director
- August 23 - Saira Banu, Indian actress
- August 26- Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
- September 1 - Leonard Slatkin, American conductor
- September 2 - Al Matthews, American actor (d. 2002)
- September 7 - Earl Manigault, American basketball player (d. 1998)
- September 7 - Bora Milutinovic, Serbian football coach
- September 12 - Leonard Peltier, U.S. Presidential candidate
- September 12 - Barry White, American singer (d. 2003)
- September 21 - Hamilton Jordan, Carter's 1ST Chief of Staff
- September 22 - Frazer Hines, British actor
- September 25 - Michael Douglas, American actor
- September 26 - Anne Robinson, British television host
- October 9 - John Entwistle, English bassist (The Who) (d. 2002)
- October 9 - Nona Hendryx, singer (LaBelle)
- October 9 - Peter Tosh, Jamaican singer and musician (d. 1987)
- October 15 - David Trimble, Irish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 28 - Dennis Franz, American actor
- October 28 - Ian Marter, British actor (d. 1986)
November-December
- November 1 - Rafik Bahaa Edine Hariri, Lebanese Prime Minister 1992 - 1998 (d. 2005).
- November 9 - Melvin Maskin, American teacher
- November 10 - Silvestre Reyes, American politician
- November 12 - Booker T. Jones, American musician, singer, and songwriter (Booker T. and the M.G.'s)
- November 12 - Al Michaels, American sportscaster
- November 17 - Danny DeVito, American actor
- November 17 - Rem Koolhaas, Dutch architect
- November 17 - Lorne Michaels, American film producer
- November 17 - Tom Seaver, baseball player
- November 21 - Dick Durbin, American politician
- November 25 - Ben Stein, American law professor, actor, and author
- December 7 - Daniel Chorzempa, American organist
- December 17 - Jack L. Chalker, American novelist (d. 2005)
- December 21 - Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor
- December 22 - Steve Carlton, baseball player
- December 23 - Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander
- December 25 - Jairzinho, Brazilian football player
- December 28 - Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
For more 1944 deaths see :Category:1944 deaths
January-May
- January 1 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
- January 11 - Edgard Potier, Belgian spy (b. 1903)
- January 20 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
- January 31 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)
- January 31 - William Allen White, American journalist (b. 1868)
- February 1 - Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter (b. 1872)
- February 4 - Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (b. 1867)
- February 11 - Carl Meinhof, German linguist (b. 1857)
- February 21 - Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (b. 1873)
- February 23 - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (b. 1863)
- March 5 - Max Jacob, French poet (b. 1876)
- March 22 - Pierre Brossolette, journalist and French Resistance fighter (b. 1903)
- March
PlaywrightA playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance.
The term is not a variant spelling of playwrite, but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright). Hence the prefix and the suffix combine to indicate someone who crafts plays. The homophone with write is in this case coincidental.
History
The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are Ancient Greeks with some of the earliest plays being written around the5th century BC. These playwrights are notable as they established forms that are still relied on by modern playwrights. Notable among them are Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes.
Shakespeare is considered to have written classical tragedies and comedies which lots of other work is based on. For example, Kiss Me Kate is based on The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet has been remade more times than can be counted.
Many playwrights are never known because only historical successes and current successes such as Broadway hits become known. Many more off-Broadway, off-off Broadway, student playwrights, and plays that never see the light of day, among others, are still playwrights even if they never achieve commercial or popular success.
Contemporarily, successful playwrights – in stark contrast to the lot of the screenwriter — are often high-status figures in their industry. This is a corollary of the more literary approach that has characterised the theatre since its roots in poetry. The form has a greater reverence for the text and is much less oriented around a director. The playwright’s vision often takes precedence.
In recent years this attitude has started to be slowly overhauled. A less rigidly formal approach to text for performance is now common, informed by practitioners like Jerzy Grotowski, Joan Littlewood and her protégé | | |
