Almanac - Monday 3/14/22

Sylvia Beach, an American-born bookseller and publisher, was born today in 1887. She was perhaps best known for her Paris bookstore, Shakespeare and Company.

Ada Louise Huxtable, an architecture critic and writer on architecture, was born today in 1921. She was awarded the first ever Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Simone Arianne Biles, an American artistic gymnast, was born today in 1997. She is the 2016 Olympic individual all-around, vault and floor gold medalist, and balance beam bronze medalist. She was part of the gold medal-winning team dubbed the "Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Also…

1822 – Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies (d. 1889)

1833 – Lucy Hobbs Taylor, American dentist and educator (d. 1910)

1836 – Isabella Beeton, English author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (d. 1865)

1868 – Emily Murphy, Canadian jurist, author, and activist (d. 1933)

1887 – Sylvia Beach, American-French bookseller and publisher, who founded Shakespeare and Company (d. 1962)

1904 – Doris Eaton Travis, American actress and dancer (d. 2010)

1918 – Zoia Horn, American librarian (d. 2014)

1921 – Ada Louise Huxtable, American author and critic (d. 2013)

1923 – Diane Arbus, American photographer (d. 1971)

1932 – Naina Yeltsina, Russian wife of Boris Yeltsin, First Lady of Russia

1938 – Eleanor Bron, English actress and screenwriter

1942 – Rita Tushingham, English actress

1943 – Anita Morris, American actress and singer (d. 1994)

1959 – Laila Robins, American actress

1959 – Tamara Tunie, American actress

1960 – Heidi Hammel, American astronomer and academic

1966 – Elise Neal, American actress and producer

1968 – Megan Follows, Canadian-American actress

1986 – Jessica Gallagher, Australian skier and cyclist

1997 – Simone Biles, American gymnast

2000 – Paige Rini, Canadian water skier

2008 – Abby Ryder Fortson, American actress

Also on this day in history…

1794 – Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.

1885 – The Mikado, a light opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, receives its first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in London.

1900 – The Gold Standard Act is ratified, placing the United States currency on the gold standard.

1901 – Utah governor Heber Manning Wells vetoes a bill that would have eased restriction on polygamy.

1903 – Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge in the US, is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.

1931 – Alam Ara, India's first talking film, is released.

1942 – Anne Miller becomes the first American patient to be treated with penicillin, under the care of Orvan Hess and John Bumstead.

1961 – A USAF B-52 bomber crashes near Yuba City, California whilst carrying nuclear weapons.

1995 – Norman Thagard becomes the first American astronaut to ride to space on board a Russian launch vehicle.

2008 – A series of riots, protests, and demonstrations erupt in Lhasa and subsequently spread elsewhere in Tibet.

and today’s birthdays include…

1854 – Paul Ehrlich, German physician and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1915)

1863 – Casey Jones, American engineer (d. 1900)

1879 – Albert Einstein, German-American physicist, engineer, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)

1912 – Les Brown, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2001)

1914 – Lee Hays, American singer-songwriter (d. 1981)

1920 – Hank Ketcham, American author and cartoonist, created Dennis the Menace (d. 2001)

1922 – Les Baxter, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)

1928 – Frank Borman, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut

1933 – Michael Caine, English actor and author

1933 – Quincy Jones, American singer-songwriter, trumpet player, and producer

1948 – Billy Crystal, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter

1950 – Rick Dees, American actor and radio host

1951 – Jerry Greenfield, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Ben & Jerry's

1988 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player