235: Julia Mamaea and her son, Emperor Alexander Severus, murdered, ending the Severan dynaasty
1212: Claire of Assisi fled her family to avoid marriage, taking vows from Francis of Assisi; canonized 1255; feast day August 11
1496: Mary Tudor born: daughter of Henry VII of England, sister of Henry VIII, wife of King Louis XII of France; after Louis' death, she married Henry VIII's friend, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; their granddaughter, Lady Jane Grey, was briefly declared Queen of England
1634: Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, known as Madame de La Fayette, born: writer, author of the first historical novel in France
1746: Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Russia died: granddaughter of Tsar Ivan V and niece of Peter the Great and Empress Anna of Russia, she was regent of Russia in 1740-1741 while her son, Ivan IV of Russia, was an infant
1840: Marilla Marks Young Ricker born: lawyer, women's suffrage worker
1848: Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, born: Queen Victoria's sixth child and fourth daughter; she served as her mother's secretary for years before her marriage in 1871, and Queen Victoria continued to make demands for her daughter's presence that strained Louise's marriage
1851: Rose Coghlan born: actress on Broadway, in silent movies
1853: Myra Reynolds born: writer
1865 (or 1872 or 1873): Anna Held born: performer, common-law wife of Florenz Ziegfield; she is credited with suggesting the format for his stage productions that became the Ziegfield Follies
1875: Anna Hempstead Branch born: poet
1882: Joanna Carver Colcord born: social work administrator
1891: Margaret Culkin Banning born: author, feminist
1891: Alice McLaughlin Cullen born: first Roman Catholic woman MP in the United Kingdom (Scottish Labour Party, seat of Glasgow Gorbals)
1904: Margaret Tucker born: indigenous rights activist in Australia
1922: The first Bat Mitzvah in America: Judith Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, New York City, a Reconstructionist Jewish synagogue
1928: Julia Lee of Korea or Julia Mullock, disputed Korean Princess as her marriage to Gu, Prince of Korea, was never legally recognized in Korea
1945: Joy Fielding born: author and, briefly as Joy Tepperman, actress
1963: Vanessa Williams born: first black Miss America, first Miss America to have her title revoked
1964: Bonnie Blair born: Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
1970: Queen Latifah (Dana Elaine Owens) born: singer-songwriter, actress, with many awards for her music and acting
2009: Natasha Richardson, actress, died after a skiing accident in Canada
Quote for Today
The more science learns what life is, the more reluctant scientists are to define it.
- Leila M. Coyne, 1985
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This Day in Women's History Calendar © 1999-2013 Jone Johnson Lewis.
