APRiL 7 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1613 ~ Gerrit Dou the Dutch painter was born on the 7th April 1613 (died 1675).

Gerrit Dou Self-portrait Dutch painter oil painting art panel Cheltenham Art Gallery paint palette brush beret mask
Gerrit Dou Self-portrait oil painting from 1635-8 on a panel (185 x 140mm) at the Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum

1739 ~  Dick Turpin the English criminal died on the 7th April 1739 (born 1705).

1883 ~ Gino Severini the Italian painter was born on the 7th April 1883 (died 1966).

1891 ~ Ole Kirk Christiansen the Danish businessman and founder of the Lego Group (died 1958).

1906 ~ Mount Vesuvius erupted and devastates Naples on the 7th April 1906.

1915 ~ BiLLiE HOLiDAY the American jazz singer and songwriter was born Eleanora Harris on the 7th April 1915, and died aged 44 in 1959.

1920 ~ RAVi SHANKAR the Indian musician, composer and sitar player was born on the 7th April 1920. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honor, and received 3 Grammy Awards. In the 2000’s he still performs, often with his daughter Anoushka.  The Beatles’ lead guitarist George Harrison involved himself in several of Shankar’s projects, and can be seen in this > ViDEO < on this link, being taught Sitar by Ravi Shankar. The video below is of Ravi Shankar on the Dick Cavett Show…

1927 ~ The 1st distance public television broadcast was on the 7th April 1927, from Washington, D.C., to New York City, displaying the image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover.

1928 ~ James Garner the American actor was born on the 7th April 1928.

1930 ~ Yves Rocher the French businessman and founder of the Yves Rocher Company was born on the 7th April 1930 (died 2009).

1938Spencer Dryden the American drummer from Jefferson Airplane was born on the 7th April 1938 (died 2005).

1939David Frost the English journalist and game show host was born on the 7th April 1939. (died 31st August 2013 aged 74).

1941 ~ CORNELiA FRANCES the Australian actress aka as judge Morag Bellingham on Home and Away, sister Grace Scott on The Young Doctorsand host of The Weakest Link, was born on the 7th April 1941. This video shows Cornelia in the opening of The Young Doctors soap opera, seen on TV from 1976 to 1983…

1947 ~ Patricia Bennett the American singer from The Chiffons was born on the 7th April 1947.

1947Florian Schneider the German singer and drummer from Kraftwerk was born on the 7th April 1947.

1947 ~ HENRY FORD the American automobile manufacturer and founder of the Ford Motor Company died on the 7th April 1947, aged 83.

1948 ~ The World Health Organization was established by the United Nations on the 7th April 1948.

1948 ~ Carol Douglas the American singer was born on the 7th April 1948.

1949 ~ JOHN OATES  the American guitarist, songwriter and producer from Hall & Oates was born on the 7th April 1949.

1950 ~ WORLD HEALTH DAY was first held on this 7th April 1950.

1951 ~ JANiS iAN the American singer, songwriter, musician, and author was born Janis Fink on the 7th April 1951. Janis won a Grammy Award for At Seventeen in 1975. Another great song of Janis Ian is Fly Too High from 1979. At Seventeen is a beautiful song…

1954 ~ JACKiE CHAN the Chinese actor, director, producer, and martial artist was born on this 7th April 1954.

1955 ~ Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on the 7th April 1955.

1957 SiMON CLiMIE the UK songwriter, producer and former lead singer of pop duo Climie Fisher was born on the 7th April 1957. “Love Changes (Everything)” from 1987 was their biggest hit…

1964 ~ RUSSELL CROWE the New Zealand / Australian actor was born on the 7th April 1964.

1964 ~ IBM announced the System/360 computer on the 7th April 1964. The System/360 models had 256 kB to 8 MB of internal main memory, the same memory size of a standard SD memory card in a 2012 digital camera.

IBM System 360 mainframe computer memory 8MB Volkswagen office desk worker VW Autowerk 1973 photo by Lothar Schaack Germany
An IBM System 360 in use at Volkswagen at Wolfsburg VW Autowerk in Germany on the 26th January 1973 ~ photo by Lothar Schaack

1968 ~ Duncan Armstrong the Australian swimmer was born on the 7th April 1968.

1968Jennifer Lynch the American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer was born on the 7th April 1968.

1969 ~ iNTERNET was born on this 7th April 1969 with the publication of RFC aka Request for Comments.

1978Duncan James the English singer from Blue was born on the 7th April 1978.

1978 ~ The neutron bomb development was canceled by President Jimmy Carter was born on the 7th April 1978.

1983 ~ STS-6 astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson performed the 1st space shuttle spacewalk on the 7th April 1983.

2001 ~ MARS ODYSSEY was launched on the 7th April 2001. The robotic spacecraft for orbiting Mars was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and reached Mars orbit on the 24th October in 2001. The NASA mission named as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke cost US$297 million. On the 15th of December in 2010 The Odyssey broke the record for longest serving spacecraft at Mars, after 3,340 days of operation. As of 2012 it holds the record for the longest-surviving continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, for over 10 years.

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