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Jesus Sosa Blanco

Jesus Sosa Blanco

Jesus Sosa Blanco (? - February 18 1959) was a captain in the Cuban army under Fulgencio Batista. After the Castro regime took power on February 16 1959, Sosa was arrested and charged with having committed 108 murders for Batista. His trial took place in the Havana Sports Palace, before 17,000 spectators. On February 18, he was found guilty, and summarily executed. Gabriel García Márquez attended the trial and execution, and used the incident as the basis for his 1975 novel The Autumn of the Patriarch.

February 18

February 18 is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 316 days remaining (317 in leap years).

Events


- 3102 BC - Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga- Lord Krishna leaves his mortal coil.
- 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten-year truce with al-Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the papacy.
- 1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is privately executed in the Tower of London.
- 1685 - Fort St. Louis is established by a Frenchman at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
- 1797 - Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby.
- 1814 - Battle of Montereau occurs.
- 1841 - The first ongoing filibuster in the United States Senate begins and lasts until March 11.
- 1856 - The American Party (Know-Nothings) convene in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to nominate their first Presidential candidate, former President (Millard Fillmore).
- 1861 - In Montgomery, Alabama Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as the provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
- 1861 - With the Italian unification almost complete, King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, Savoy and Sardinia assumes the title of King of Italy.
- 1865 - In the U.S., Delaware voters reject the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and vote to continue the practice of slavery. (Delaware finally ratifies the amendment on February 12, 1901.)
- 1878 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico.
- 1885 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.
- 1911 - The first official flight with air mail takes place in Allahabad, British India, when Henri Pequet, a 23-year-old pilot, delivers 6,500 letters to Naini, about 10 km away.
- 1913 - Raymond Poincaré becomes President of France.
- 1929 - First Academy Awards are announced.
- 1930 - While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto.
- 1930 - Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly in an airplane and also the first cow to be milked in an airplane.
- 1932 - The Empire of Japan declares Manzhouguo (obsolete Chinese name for Manchuria) independent from China.
- 1943 - The Nazis arrest the members of the White Rose movement.
- 1943 - Joseph Goebbels delivers the Sportpalast speech
- 1948 - Eamon de Valera resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland.
- 1953 - The first 3D film, Bwana Devil, opens.
- 1953 - Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sign an $8,000,000 contract to continue the I Love Lucy television series through 1955.
- 1965 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
- 1970 - The Chicago Eight are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic Party national convention.
- 1972 - The California Supreme Court invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
- 1974 - The game show Tattletales debuts in the slot vacated by the long-running soap opera The Secret Storm.
- 1974 - KISS releases their self-titled debut album.
- 1977 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
- 1983 - Thirteen people die and one is seriously injured in the Wah Mee Massacre in Seattle, Washington, said to be the largest robbery-motivated mass-murder in American history.
- 1985 - The legendary "mirror globe" ident, first used in 1969, is seen for the last time in regular rotation on BBC1.
- 1998 - Two white separatists are arrested in Nevada and accused of plotting a biological attack on New York City subways.
- 2003 - Nearly 200 people die in the Daegu subway fire in South Korea
- 2004 - Up to 295 people, including nearly 200 rescue workers, die near Neyshabur in Iran when a run-away freight train carrying sulfur, petrol and fertiliser catches fire and explodes.
- 2005 - The United Kingdom law banning fox hunting, hare coursing and other sports which kill wild mammals is enforced from this date.

Births


- 1516 - Queen Mary I of England (d. 1558)
- 1530 - Uesugi Kenshin, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1578)
- 1559 - Isaac Casaubon, French classical scholar (d. 1614)
- 1602 - Per Brahe (the younger), Swedish soldier and statesman (d. 1680)
- 1635 - Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish statesman (d. 1680)
- 1609 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman and historian (d. 1674)
- 1642 - Marie Champmeslé, French actress (d. 1698)
- 1658 - Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre, French writer (d. 1743)
- 1745 - Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (d. 1827)
- 1835 - César Cui, Lithuanian composer (d. 1918)
- 1838 - Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1916)
- 1846 - Wilson Barrett, English actor and playwright (d. 1904)
- 1848 - Louis Comfort Tiffany, American glass artist (d. 1933)
- 1849 - Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (d. 1906)
- 1859 - Sholom Aleichem, Russian Yiddish humorist and author (d. 1916)
- 1871 - Harry Brearley, English inventor (d. 1948)
- 1883 - Nikos Kazantzakis, Greek writer (d. 1957)
- 1884 - Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (d. 1970)
- 1890 - Edward Arnold, American actor (d. 1956)
- 1890 - Adolphe Menjou, American actor (d. 1963)
- 1892 - Wendell Willkie, U.S. Presidential candidate (d. 1944)
- 1896 - Andre Breton, French writer (d. 1966)
- 1898 - Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and manufacturer (d. 1988)
- 1901 - Reginald Sheffield, British actor (d. 1957)
- 1903 - Nikolai Podgorny, President of the Soviet Union (d. 1983)
- 1905 - Jan Gies, Dutch resistance fighter (d. 1993)
- 1906 - Hans Asperger, Austrian pediatrician (d. 1980)
- 1909 - Wallace Stegner, American writer (d. 1993)
- 1915 - Phyllis Calvert, British actress (d. 2002)
- 1919 - Jack Palance, American actor
- 1920 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (d. 1990)
- 1920 - Eric Gairy, Grenadan politician (d. 1997)
- 1922 - Helen Gurley Brown, American editor and publisher
- 1922 - Allan Melvin, American actor
- 1925 - George Kennedy, American actor
- 1927 - John Warner, U.S. Senator
- 1929 - Len Deighton, British author
- 1930 - Gahan Wilson, American cartoonist
- 1931 - Johnny Hart, American cartoonist
- 1931 - Toni Morrison, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1931 - Bob St. Clair, American football player
- 1932 - Milos Forman, Czech film director
- 1933 - Yoko Ono, Japanese-born singer, artist, and wife of John Lennon
- 1933 - Bobby Robson, English football manager
- 1933 - Mary Ure, Scottish actress (d. 1975)
- 1936 - Jean Auel, American writer
- 1938 - István Szabó, Hungarian film director
- 1943 - Graeme Garden, Scottish writer, comedian, and actor
- 1945 - Judy Rankin, American golfer
- 1947 - Princess Christina of the Netherlands
- 1947 - Dennis DeYoung, American musician (Styx)
- 1948 - Sinéad Cusack, Irish actress
- 1949 - Gary Ridgway, American serial killer
- 1950 - John Hughes, American director, producer, and writer
- 1950 - Cybill Shepherd, American actress
- 1952 - Maurice Lucas, American basketball player
- 1952 - Juice Newton, American entertainer
- 1954 - John Travolta, American actor
- 1957 - Marita Koch, German athlete
- 1957 - Vanna White, American game show presenter
- 1960 - Greta Scacchi, Italian actress
- 1962 - Julie Strain, American actress
- 1964 - Matt Dillon, American actor
- 1965 - Dr. Dre, American rapper and record producer
- 1967 - Roberto Baggio, Italian footballer
- 1968 - Molly Ringwald, American actress
- 1970 - Susan Egan, American musical actress
- 1973 - Claude Makelele, French footballer
- 1975 - Gary Neville, English footballer
- 1981 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
- 1981 - Buddy Nielsen, American singer (Senses Fail)
- 1983 - Jermaine Jenas, English footballer
- 1985 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
- 1988 - Rihanna, West Indian singer

Deaths


- 806 - Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 1866)
- 814 - Angilbert, Frankish monk and confidant of Charlemagne
- 901 - Thabit ibn Qurra, Arab astronomer and mathematician (b. 826)
- 999 - Pope Gregory V
- 1139 - Prince Yaropolk II of Kiev (b. 1082)
- 1294 - Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire (b. 1215)
- 1379 - Albert II of Mecklenburg
- 1478 - George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV and Richard III of England (executed) (b. 1449)
- 1535 - Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, astrologer and alchemist (b. 1486)
- 1546 - Martin Luther, German religious reformer (b. 1483)
- 1564 - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist (b. 1475)
- 1583 - Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Itlian writer (b. 1503)
- 1654 - Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, French writer (b. 1594)
- 1683 - Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, Dutch painter (b. 1620)
- 1712 - Louis, Duke of Burgundy, heir to the throne of France (b. 1682)
- 1718 - Pierre Antoine Motteux, French-born English dramatist (b. 1663)
- 1743 - Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (b. 1667)
- 1748 - Otto Ferdinand Graf von Abensperg und Traun, Austrian field marshal (b. 1677)
- 1772 - Johann Hartwig Ernst, Count von Bernstorff, Danish statesman (b. 1712)
- 1778 - Joseph Marie Terray, French statesman (b. 1715)
- 1780 - Kristijonas Donelaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1714)
- 1788 - John Whitehurst, English clockmaker and scientist (b. 1713)
- 1803 - Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, German poet (b. 1719)
- 1931 - Milan Sufflay, Croatian politician (b. 1879)
- 1933 - James J. Corbett, American boxer (b. 1866)
- 1938 - David King Udall, American politician (b. 1851)
- 1942 - Albert Payson Terhune, American author (b. 1872)
- 1956 - Gustave Charpentier, French composer
- 1957 - Henry Norris Russell, American astronomer (b. 1877)
- 1966 - Robert Rossen, American screenwriter, producer, and director (d. 1908
- 1967 - J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist (b. 1904)
- 1973 - Frank Costello, Italian-born gangster (b. 1891)
- 1977 - Andy Devine, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1978 - Maggie McNamara, American actress (b. 1928)
- 1981 - John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft designer (b. 1895)
- 1982 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand author (b. 1895)
- 1993 - Kerry Von Erich, American professional wrestler
- 1993 - Jacqueline Hill, British actress (b. 1929)
- 1997 - Emily Hahn, American writer (b. 1905)
- 1998 - Harry Caray, baseball broadcaster (b. 1917)
- 1999 - Noam Pitlik, American actor and director (b. 1932)
- 2001 - Balthus, French-Polish painter (b. 1908)
- 2001 - Dale Earnhardt, American race car driver (b. 1951)
- 2001 - Eddie Mathews, baseball player (b. 1931)
- 2003 - Isser Harel, Israeli Mossad leader (b. 1912)
- 2004 - Jean Rouch, French filmmaker and ethnologist (b. 1917)

Holidays and observances


- Independence Day in The Gambia, (1965)

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/18 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050218.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 17 - February 19 - January 18 - March 18 -- listing of all days ko:2월 18일 ms:18 Februari ja:2月18日 simple:February 18 th:18 กุมภาพันธ์

1959

1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It is also a song by The Sisters of Mercy on the album Floodland.

Events

January


- January 1 - Cultivars of plants named after this date must be named in a modern language, not in Latin.
- January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when forces of Fidel Castro advance.
- January 2 - CBS Radio cuts four soap operas: Backstage Wife, Our Gal Sunday, Road of Life, and This is Nora Drake.
- January 2 - Castro's troops approach Havana.
- January 3 - Island of Addu in the Maldives declares independence.
- January 3 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. state.
- January 4 - In Cuba rebel troops lead by Che Guevara and Glenfuego enter Havana.
- January 4 - In Léopoldville 42 people are killed during clashes between the police and participants of a meeting of the Abako party.
- January 6 - Fidel Castro arrives in Havana.
- January 7 - The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.
- January 8 - Charles De Gaulle inaugurated as the first president of French Fifth Republic.
- January 13 - Cuban communists execute 71 supporters of Fulgencio Batista.
- January 22 - Knox Mine Disaster - water breaches River Slope mine in Port Griffith, Pennsylvania - 12 miners dead.

February


- February 1 - A referendum in Switzerland turns down female suffrage.
- February 3 - The chartered plane transporting musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper goes down in an Iowa snowstorm, killing all four occupants on board. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died," popularized in Don McLean's song, "American Pie."
- February 6 - At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
- February 15 - Mattel's Barbie doll goes on sale in the USA.
- February 16 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.
- February 16 - Blizzard causes a massive power outage in Newfoundland.
- February 17 - USA launches Vanguard II weather satellite.
- February 18 - Jesus Sosa Blanco, murderer of 108 people, executed in Cuba.
- February 18 - Women in Nepal vote for the first time.
- February 19 - The United Kingdom grants Cyprus its independence.
- February 22 - Lee Petty wins the first Daytona 500.
- February 26 - Author Walter Mene throws acid on Rubens painting in Munich.

March-May


- March 1 - USS Tuscaloosa, USS New Orleans, USS Tennessee and USS West Virginia struck from the Naval Vessel Register.
- March 1 – Archbishop Makarios returns to Cyprus from exile.
- March 8 - Last television appearance of The Marx Brothers, in The Incredible Jewel Robbery.
- March 9 - The Barbie doll debuts.
- March 17 - Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet and travels to India.
- March 18 - American President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs bill allowing for Hawaiian statehood.
- March 19 - Two other islands join Addu in the United Suvadida Republic (abolished September 1963).
- March 31 - Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida is dedicated and opens its gates.
- March 31 - Dalai Lama leaves Tibet.
- April 9 - NASA announces its selection of seven military pilots to become the first US astronauts (see Mercury Seven).
- April 25 - The St. Lawrence Seaway linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean officially opens to shipping.

May-July


- May - First Ten Tors event held in Dartmoor.
- late May / early June - import tariffs lifted in the United Kingdom.
- May 24 - British Empire Day becomes Commonwealth Day.
- June 3 - Singapore becomes a self governing crown colony of Britain with Lee Kuan Yew as Prime Minister.
- June 5 - A new government of the State of Singapore is sworn in by Sir William Goode. Two former Ministers were re-elected to the Legislative Assembly.
- June 8 - The USS Barbero and United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.
- June 9 - The USS George Washington is launched as the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles.
- June 14 - A three-front revolutionary invasion by air and sea takes place in the Dominican Republic consisting of exiles aided by Fidel Castro whose purpose was to overthrow dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Within a few days all but four are captured and executed. Trujillo is killed less than two years later by men partly inspired by the deaths of the 1959 martyrs.
- June 23 - Sean Lemass becomes the third Taoiseach of Ireland.
- June 23 - Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after only nine years in prison and allowed to emigrate to Dresden, East Germany (where he resumed a scientific career).
- June 26 - Queen Elizabeth II and US Dwight Eisenhower open Saint Lawrence Seaway.
- July 2 - Royal wedding in Belgium: Prince Albert marries the Italian princess Paola Ruffo di Calabria.
- July 4 - With the admission of Alaska as the 49th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 49-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- July 7 - 14:28 UT Venus occulted the star Regulus. The rare event which will next occur on October 1, 2044 was used for determining the diameter of Venus and the structure of Venus' atmosphere.
- July 15 - Steel industry strike in USA.
- July 24 - At the opening of the American National Exhibition in Moscow, US vice-president Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev have a "kitchen debate."

August-December


- August 4 - Martial law declared in Laos.
- August 7 - Explorer program: The United States launches Explorer 6 from the Atlantic Missile Range in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- August 8 - Flood in Formosa leaves 2,000 dead.
- August 14 - Explorer VI sends the first picture of Earth from space
- August 15 - Cyprus gains independence.
- August 16 - Explorer VI sends back the first picture of Earth from space.
- August 21 - Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. state.
- August 24 - Cyprus joins United Nations.
- September 13 - Luna 2 crashes onto the Moon as the first man-made object.
- September 14 - Luna II reaches Moon as the first man-made object.
- September 15 - Russian probe Luna 2 sends back first photos of the far side of Earth's Moon.
- September 25 - Ceylon's prime minister SWRD Bandaranaike assassinated.
- October 12 - At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
- October 12 - Large scale diamond robbery in London.
- October 13 - USA launches Explorer VII.
- October 21 - Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi is arrested in Nyeri, Kenya.
- October 21 - In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
- October 31 - Riots in the Belgian Congo.
- October 31 - Lee Harvey Oswald announces in Moscow he won't ever return to US.
- November 1 - Ice Hockey: After being struck in the face with a hockey puck, Montreal Canadiens goaltender, Jacques Plante offered to return to play on the condition that he can wear his protective face mask. It was the first time such equipment was used in a regular NHL game.
- November 2 - Quiz show scandals: "Twenty-One" game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
- November 15 - Four members of the Herbert Clutter Family murdered at their farm outside Holcomb, Kansas.
- November 19 - The Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel automobile, which had been introduced to the American public on "E Day" only two years earlier -- September 4, 1957.
- November 28 - Anti-USA demonstrations in Panama.
- December 1 - Cold War: Antarctic Treaty signed - 12 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a landmark treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on that continent (this was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War).
- December 2 - Malpasset dam in southern France collapses and water flows over the town of Frejus - 412 dead.
- December 14 - Makarios selected first president of Cyprus.

Unknown date


- The neutrino is first experimentally detected, by Cowan and Reines.
- TAT-2 cable goes into operation.
- Workers World Party is founded by Sam Marcy.
- The first skull of Australopithecus is discovered by Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey in the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.
- Serengeti becomes a nature preserve.
- "Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry opens on Broadway in New York.

Births

Unknown date


- Claudia Benton, American murder victim (d. 1998)
- Graham Docherty, Scottish rugby player and businessman

January-February


- January 1 - Azali Assoumani, Comorese president
- January 6 - Kathy Sledge, American singer
- January 9 - Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- January 16 - Sade, Nigerian-born singer
- January 17 - Susanna Hoffs, American singer (The Bangles)
- January 24 - Nastassja Kinski, German actress
- January 27 - Keith Olbermann, American news correspondent and sportscaster
- February 4 - Lawrence Taylor, American football player
- February 14 - Renee Fleming, American soprano
- February 16 - John McEnroe, American tennis player
- February 22 - Kyle MacLachlan, American actor
- February 23 - Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
- February 26 - Rolando Blackman, Panamanian basketball player

March-April


- March 6 - Tom Arnold, American actor and comedian
- March 8 - Aidan Quinn, American actor
- March 10 -Mike Wallace, NASCAR race car driver
- March 9 Rodney A. Grant, American actor
- March 15 - Harold Baines, baseball player
- March 16 - Flavor Flav, American rapper
- March 16 - Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway
- March 17 - Danny Ainge, American basketball player, coach, and baseball player
- March 18 - Luc Besson, French film producer, writer, and director
- March 21 - Nobuo Uematsu, Japanese composer
- March 22 - Matthew Modine, American actor
- March 29 - Perry Farrell, American musician
- April 3 - David Hyde Pierce, American actor
- April 10 - Brian Setzer, American guitarist (Stray Cats)
- April 16 - Alison Ramsay, Scottish field hockey player
- April 21 - Robert Smith, British musician (The Cure)
- April 22 - Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- April 22 - Ryan Stiles, American actor
- April 27 - Sheena Easton, Scottish Singer
- April 30 - Stephen Harper, Canadian politician

May-June


- May 3 - Uma Bharati, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh
- May 3 - Ben Elton, British comedian and writer
- May 5 - Steve Stevens, American guitarist
- May 14 - Patrick Bruel, French singer
- May 15 - Andrew Eldritch, British musician (The Sisters of Mercy)
- May 20 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer (d. 1997)
- May 20 - Bronson Pinchot, American actor
- May 22 - Steven Morrissey, British singer
- May 29 - Adrian Paul, British actor
- June 12 - John Linnell, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
- June 26 - Mark McKinney, Canadian actor and comedian
- June 27 - Clint Boon, British musician (Inspiral Carpets)
- June 30 - Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor

July-September


- July 3 - Julie Burchill, British journalist
- July 6 - Richard Dacoury, French basketball player
- July 7 - Ben Linder, American engineer (d. 1987)
- July 10 - Janet Julian, American actress
- July 11 - Richie Sambora, American musician
- July 11 - Suzanne Vega, American singer
- July 13 - Richard Leman, British field hockey player
- July 16 - Gary Anderson, American football player
- July 26 - Kevin Spacey, American actor
- July 29 - Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor
- July 29 - Ruud Janssen, Dutch artist
- August 1 - Joe Elliott, lead singer for band Def Leppard.
- August 2 - Apollonia Kotero, American actress and singer
- August 3 - Koichi Tanaka, Japanese scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- August 10 - Rosanna Arquette, American actress
- August 14 - Magic Johnson, American basketball player
- August 18 - Dorothy Bush Koch, sister of George W Bush and daughter of George H W Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush
- August 21 - Jim McMahon, American football player
- August 29 - Timothy Perry Shriver, son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and nephew of John F Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy
- August 29 - Stephen Wolfram, British scientist
- August 30 - Mark 'Jacko' Jackson, Australian footballer and actor
- September 4 - Kevin Harrington, Australian actor
- September 8 - Mary Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy.
- September 14 - Morten Harket, Norwegian singer (a-ha)
- September 21 - Dave Coulier, American actor
- September 22 - James Mark Roth, American author, teacher, missionary, blogger
- September 29 - Benjamin Sehene, Rwandan writer

October-December


- October 3 - Fred Couples, American golfer
- October 3 - Greg Proops, American comedian
- October 3 - Jack Wagner, American actor
- October 9 - Michael Pare, American actor
- October 15 - Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
- October 21 - Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
- October 23 - "Weird Al" Yankovic, American singer and parodist
- October 25 - Nancy Cartwright, American voice actress
- October 27 - Rick Carlisle, American basketball coach
- November 10 - Linda Cohn, American sports reporter
- November 14 - Paul McGann, British actor
- November 23 - Dominique Dunne, American actress (d. 1982)
- November 25 - Charles Kennedy, Scottish politician
- November 28 - Judd Nelson, American actor
- December 13 - Nadia Russ, Ukrainian-born artist
- December 14 - Dana Childs, American radio personality and basketball coach
- December 21 - Florence Griffith Joyner, American athelete (d. 1998)
- December 27 - Gerina Dunwich, American author
- December 31 - Val Kilmer, American actor

Deaths


- January 21 - Cecil B. DeMille, American film director (b. 1881)
- January 22 - Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (b. 1929)
- February 3 - Killed in a private plane crash:
  - The Big Bopper, American singer (b. 1930)
  - Buddy Holly, American singer (b. 1936)
  - Richie Valens, American singer (b. 1941)
- February 3 - Vincent Astor, American philanthropist (b. 1891)
- February 11 - Marshall Teague, American race car driver (b. 1922)
- February 14 - Baby Dodds, American jazz musician (b. 1898)
- February 15 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- February 28 - Maxwell Anderson, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
- March 3 - Lou Costello, American actor and comedian (b. 1906)
- March 4 - Maxey Long, American athlete (b. 1878)
- March 26 - Raymond Chandler, American novelist (b. 1888)
- March 29 - Barthélemy Boganda, first President of the Central African Republic (b. 1910)
- April 9 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (b. 1867)
- May 5 - Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1878)
- May 14 - Sidney Bechet, American musician (b. 1897)
- May 24 - John Foster Dulles, United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- June 9 - Adolf Otto Reinhold Windaus, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1876)
- June 23 - Boris Vian, French writer, poet, singer, and musician
- July 11 - Charlie Parker, English cricketer (b. 1882)
- July 15 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss composer (b. 1880)
- July 15 - Billie Holiday, American singer (b. 1915)
- August 5 - Edgar Guest, English poet (b. 1881)
- August 6 - Preston Sturges, American film director and writer (b. 1898)
- August 15 - Blind Willie McTell, American singer (b. 1901)
- August 16 - Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (b. 1879)
- August 19 - Jacob Epstein, American-born sculptor (b. 1880)
- August 28 - Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (b. 1890)
- October 7 - Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
- October 14 - Errol Flynn, American actor (b. 1909)
- October 16 - George C. Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b.1880)
- October 18 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
- November 15 - Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1869)
- November 17 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer (b. 1887)
- November 17 - Nichijun Horigome, Japanese priest (b. 1898)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Emilio Gino Segrè, Owen Chamberlain
- Chemistry - Jaroslav Heyrovský
- Medicine - Severo Ochoa, Arthur Kornberg
- Literature - Salvatore Quasimodo
- Peace - Philip John Noel-Baker
- ko:1959년 ja:1959年 simple:1959 th:พ.ศ. 2502

Fulgencio Batista

General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the de facto leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940 and the country's de jure President from 1940 to 1944 and again, after a coup, from 1952 to 1959.

Youth and first rule

Batista was born in Banes, Cuba in 1901 and considered socially mulatto (mixed African and Spanish blood, with additional admixture some say were Filipino and certainly Taíno). Said to be the son of Mambi (Cuban Wars of Independence fighter) Belisario Batista [http://cubagen.org/mil/mambi/index.htm], he joined the army in 1921. Sergeant Batista led the 1933 "Sergeants' Revolt" which replaced the Provisional Government of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, who had previously ousted Gerardo Machado. Ramón Grau was made president and Batista became the Army Chief of Staff and effectively controlled the presidency. (Fidel and Raúl Castro were born in Birán, which is relatively near Banes. The Batista and Castro families had social contact. Batista is known to have given Fidel Castro a large wedding present, and Raúl is commonly believed to be the son of a senior Batista officer.) During this period Batista violently suppressed a number of attempts to defeat his control. These attempts include the squashing of a rising in ancient Atares fort (Havana) by Blas Hernández, a rural guerrilla who had fought Gerardo Machado. Many of those who surrendered were executed. Others attempts include, the attack on the Hotel Nacional where Cuban former army officers of the Cuban Olympic rifle team put up stiff resistance until they were defeated. Here again Batista troops executed a good number of the surrendered. The irony is that many of these officers had helped overthrow Machado. There were many other, often minor and almost unrecorded attempted revolts against Batista. These too were bloodily suppressed. These minor revolts included one in Guamá, a place in the Sierra Maestra south of Guisa, where the followers of an anti-Batista Guerrilla leader known as “Gamboa” (apparently a member, or former member, of the Antonio Guiteras anti-Machado guerrillas) were defeated and dispersed. Grau was president for just over 100 days before being replaced with Carlos Mendieta y Montefur (11 months), then José Barnet y Vinajeras (5 months), and then Miguel Gómez y Arias (7 months) before Federico Laredo Brú managed to rule from December 1936 to October 1940. In October, Batista was popularly elected as President of Cuba. During his tenure, he drafted the 1940 constitution (later approved by President Grau), widely regarded as a progressive document with regards to labor, unemployment, and social security, and implemented several liberal economic reforms. In 1944, Batista was forbidden by law to seek re-election by term limits and was succeeded by Grau. Batista retired in Florida, before returning in 1952.

Second rule

Batista staged an almost bloodless coup d'état on March 10, 1952, removing Carlos Prío Socarrás (elected in 1948) and becoming President three months before new elections were to be held. The new government received diplomatic recognition from the United States, a number of American corporations continued to swell in Cuba, and the island became a major tourist destination, attracting unprecedented prosperity for the island. In addition, the public was somewhat accepting of the coup at first, hoping Batista would restore stability to the island after the political violence, labor unrest, and government corruption that had occurred during Prío's tenure. Batista's ethnicity and origins, plus his ties to Afro-Cuban religions led to support from darker pigmented Cubans who would with some frequency kill and die for their perceived leader. Despite economic prosperity in the 1950s, Batista's corruption, particularly his unsettlingly close relationship with the Havana Mafia, saw a rise in general opposition to his regime, from the rich and middle class Cubans, advocates of liberal democracy who viewed his presidency as unconstitutional and unacceptable. Cross class urban resistance grew despite high causualties and the country folk (guajiros) increasingly turned to irregular armed resistance. The overt communist party, Partido Socialista Popular, supported Batista until about the middle of 1958.

Opposition

Among the numerous opponents to Batista was Fidel Castro. Castro had attempted to challenge the coup judicially but his petition was refused. Castro was imprisoned after he led a disastrous attack on the Moncada Barracks in July, 1953. In an attempt to discourage further rebellion, Batista also displayed the corpses of guerrillas killed by the Army on Cuban television. However, rather than frightening the Cuban populace, such actions only further contributed to Batista's growing unpopularity. With pressure from the Jesuits, Batista decided to free Castro early and he was released in a general amnesty in May 1955 and went into exile in Mexico and the United States where he plotted another attempt at revolution. Castro's return to Cuba as head of the 26th of July Movement was marked by another disastrous attack in December, 1956. Despite a bloody supporting urban actions by Frank Pais in Santiago in the days preceding the landing, rural support coordinated by Pais, that including Celia Sanchez, the bandit Cresencio Perez, and the trucks from Huber Matos farm, as well as the sacrifice of two rearguard squads, only Castro and some 11-17 others were able to successfully retreat into the mountains and from there wage a guerrilla war. In May 1958, in response to a failed assault on the presidencial palace by other resistance groups, Batista launched a major assault against Castro and the other rebel groups (unaffiliated with Castro). Despite being outnumbered (Castro claims his men numbered fewer than 100; however, there were far greater numbers of pickets or scouts (escopeteros) who saw action in those days), Castro's forces scored a series of victories, aided by massive desertion amongst Batista's army. During this time period, the U.S. broke off relations with Batista, stating that it sought a peaceful transition to a new government. Against this backdrop of growing civil war, Batista, constitutionally prohibited from continuing as president, held an election in which his preferred candidate Carlos Rivero Aguero defeated Grau. On January 1, 1959 Batista and Rivero fled the country to the Dominican Republic, and Castro's forces took Havana. Later Batista moved to Portugal. Batista lived rest of his life in Marbella, Spain where he died.

See also


- Cuban Revolution ja:フルヘンシオ・バティスタ

February 16

February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 318 days remaining (319 in leap years).

Events


- 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau was dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols.
- 1279 - Afonso III of Portugal dies. His son Denis succeeds the Portuguese throne.
- 1742 - Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington, becomes British Prime Minister.
- 1804 - First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.
- 1838 - Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal were killed by Zulus.
- 1852 - Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.
- 1857 - The National Deaf Mute College (later renamed Gallaudet University) is established. in Washington, DC becoming the first school for the advanced education of the deaf.
- 1862 - American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
- 1866 - Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington becomes the British Secretary of State for War
- 1868 - In New York City the Jolly Corks organization is renamed the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).
- 1883 - Ladies Home Journal is published for the first time.
- 1899 - President Félix Faure of France dies in office.
- 1918 - Lithuania declares its independence from both Russia and Germany.
- 1923 - Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
- 1934 - Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund
- 1936 - Elections bring the Popular Front to power in Spain.
- 1937 - Wallace H. Carothers receives a patent for nylon.
- 1940 - Altmark Incident: The German tanker Altmark, with 299 British prisoners, is boarded in neutral Norwegian waters by sailors from the British destroyer HMS Cossack and the prisoners set free, a breach of Norwegian neutrality at the beginning of World War II.
- 1943 - World War II: Russia reconquers Kharkov.
- 1945 - World War II: American forces land on Corregidor island in the Philippines.
- 1945 - American forces recapture the Bataan Peninsula.
- 1959 - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after President Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1.
- 1961 - Explorer 9 launched. (See Explorer program)
- 1968 - In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service.
- 1970 - Joe Frazier starts a heavyweight world boxing champion winning streak with the knock out of Jimmy Ellis in five rounds.
- 1972 - NBA basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th point.
- 1978 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
- 1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 71 people in Australia's worst ever fires.
- 1986 - The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
- 1987 - The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem.
- 1988 - The Comedy Company debuts on Network 0-10 Ten.
- 1991 - Gulf War: U.S. and U.K. war planes bomb the suburbs of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 civilians and killing three others.
- 1998 - China Airlines Flight 676 crashed into a residential area near by Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, killing 202 people, included all 196 on board and six on the ground.
- 1999 - In Uzbekistan a bomb explodes and gunfire is heard at the government headquarters in an apparent assassination attempt against President Islam Karimov.
- 1999 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
- 1999 - In Jasper, Texas, the trial begins of John William King who is accused of dragging African American James Byrd Jr. to death in an apparent hate crime.
- 2005 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
- 2005 - The National Hockey League cancels the entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs, becoming the first major sports league in North America to do so over a labour dispute.

Births


- 1032 - Emperor Yingzong of China (d. 1067)
- 1222 - Nichiren, Japanese founder of Nichiren Buddhism (d. 1282)
- 1497 - Philipp Melanchthon, German humanist and reformer (d. 1560)
- 1519 - Gaspard de Coligny, French Huguenot leader (d. 1572)
- 1543 - Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (d. 1590)
- 1620 - Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg (d. 1688)
- 1643 - John Sharp, English Archbishop of York (d. 1714)
- 1710 - King Louis XV of France (d. 1774)
- 1727 - Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (d. 1817)
- 1761 - Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
- 1804 - Carl Theodor Ernst von Siebold, German physiologist (d. 1885)
- 1821 - Heinrich Barth, German explorer
- 1822 - Sir Francis Galton, English explorer and biologist (d. 1911)
- 1824 - Peter Kozler, Slovenian cartographer and geographer (d. 1879)
- 1826 - Julia Grant, First Lady of the United States (d. 1902)
- 1826 - Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet (d. 1886)
- 1831 - Nikolai Leskov, Russian writer (d. 1895)
- 1834 - Ernst Haeckel, German zoologist and philosopher (d. 1919)
- 1838 - Henry Adams, American historian and novelist (d. 1918)
- 1866 - Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet (d. 1949)
- 1876 - George Macaulay Trevelyan, English historian (d. 1962)
- 1884 - Robert J. Flaherty, American filmmaker (d. 1951)
- 1886 - Van Wyck Brooks, American historian and critic (d. 1963)
- 1898 - Katharine Cornell, American actress (d. 1974)
- 1901 - Chester Morris, American film actor (d. 1970)
- 1903 - Edgar Bergen, American ventriloquist (d. 1978)
- 1904 - George F. Kennan, American political policy-maker (d. 2005)
- 1909 - Hugh Beaumont, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1909 - Jeffrey Lynn, American actor (d. 1995)
- 1915 - Jim O'Hora, American college football coach (d. 2005)
- 1921 - Araucaria, British crossword compiler
- 1921 - Vera-Ellen, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1926 - John Schlesinger, English film director (d. 2003)
- 1927 - June Brown, British actress
- 1927 - Tom Kennedy, American game show host
- 1929 - Gerhard Hanappi, Austrian footballer (d. 1980)
- 1931 - Otis Blackwell, American songwriter and singer (d. 2002)
- 1932 - Harry Goz, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1932 - Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, President of Sierra Leone
- 1935 - Sonny Bono, singer, music producer, television producer, and U.S. Congressman (d. 1998)
- 1936 - Jill Kinmont, American skier
- 1937 - Yuri Manin, Russian mathematician
- 1938 - John Corigliano, American composer
- 1938 - Barry Primus, American actor
- 1941 - Kim Jong-il, North Korean leader
- 1944 - Richard Ford, American novelist
- 1945 - Jeremy Bulloch, English actor
- 1945 - Frank Welker, American voice actor
- 1950 - Peter Hain, British politician
- 1951 - William Katt, American actor
- 1954 - Iain Banks, Scottish author
- 1955 - Margaux Hemingway, American actress and model (d. 1996)
- 1957 - LeVar Burton, American actor
- 1957 - James Ingram, American singer
- 1958 - Ice-T, American singer, songwriter, and actor
- 1958 - Lisa Loring, American actress
- 1959 - John McEnroe, American tennis player
- 1960 - Pete Willis, English guitarist (Def Leppard)
- 1961 - Andy Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- 1963 - Dave Lombardo, Cuban drummer (Slayer)
- 1964 - Bebeto, Brazilian footballer
- 1964 - Christopher Eccleston, English actor
- 1967 - John Valentin, baseball player
- 1970 - DJ Wallis, fitness competitor
- 1972 - Jerome Bettis, American football player
- 1972 - Taylor Hawkins, American musician (Foo Fighters)
- 1973 - Cathy Freeman, Australian athlete
- 1975 - Aikawa Nanase, Japanese musician
- 1976 - Kyo, Japanese singer (Dir en grey)
- 1977 - Ian Clarke, Irish computer programmer
- 1977 - Ahman Green, American football player
- 1979 - Valentino Rossi, Italian race car driver
- 1980 - Ashley Lelie, American football player

Deaths


- 1247 - Heinrich Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
- 1279 - King Afonso III of Portugal (b. 1210)
- 1391 - John V Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (b. 1332)
- 1531 - Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1452)
- 1560 - Jean du Bellay, French Catholic cardinal and diplomat
- 1710 - Esprit Fléchier, French writer and Bishop of Nîmes (b. 1632)
- 1721 - James Craggs the Younger, English politician (b. 1686)
- 1754 - Richard Mead, English physician (b. 1763)
- 1898 - Thomas Bracken, New Zealand poet (b. 1843)
- 1899 - Félix Faure, President of France (b. 1841)
- 1907 - Giosue Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
- 1912 - St. Nikolai of Japan, Eastern Orthodox priest (b. 1836)
- 1928 - Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (b. 1856)
- 1932 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1841)
- 1967 - Antonio Moreno, Spanish-born actor (b. 1887)
- 1970 - Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1879)
- 1974 - John Garand, Canadian rifle engineer and manufacturer (b. 1888)
- 1975 - Morgan Taylor, American athlete (b. 1903)
- 1977 - Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet (b. 1897)
- 1978 - E. Roland Harriman, American financier (b. 1895)
- 1980 - Erich Hückel, German physicist (b. 1895)
- 1989 - Linmarie Harrison, midget of Mechanicville
- 1990 -