Curated playlist
1917 births
- John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy spent hours in the water towing a burned crewman after a destroyer cut his boat in half.
- Dean MartinDean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti, delivered one of his sharpest hometown jokes in a 1967 spy spoof. In The Ambushers, his secret agent Matt Helm is about to be executed and is offered a last cigarette. Helm tells the man who hands it…
- Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald walked onstage at the Apollo Theater planning to dance, then chose to sing. She was 17 in 1934.
- Robert MitchumRobert Mitchum, the American film actor and singer, gave critic Roger Ebert a picture that never faded. Ebert named him his favorite movie star and praised his "deep, laconic voice and his long face and those famous weary eyes." Ebert saw…
- Ferdinand MarcosFerdinand Marcos was convicted of murder as a law student, then rose to president.
- Indira GandhiParty bosses chose Indira Gandhi as prime minister because they thought she was weak.
- Nur Muhammad TarakiAfghanistan's Nur Muhammad Taraki was smothered with pillows on orders of the man who built his cult.
- Jack KirbyJack Kirby was drafted in 1943 and became a scout who drew reconnaissance maps in towns.
- Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. Clarke never patented his satellite idea. He called a patent "a licence to be sued."
- Caspar WeinbergerBudget cutter Caspar Weinberger became "Cap the Ladle" once he ran the Pentagon.
- Al CerviAl Cervi lost his Rochester job over a $3,500 raise request. He then coached Syracuse to a title.
- Jean MassinJean Massin trained as a Catholic priest before he became a historian. He left that life in 1952 to work as a critic.
- Jean-Pierre MelvilleAs the story goes, Jean-Pierre Melville died at dinner after writing 200 shots of a new film that morning.
- Eric HobsbawmMI5 blocked Eric Hobsbawm from a BBC job in 1945 over his communism. He later became a celebrated historian.
- Elliot ForbesElliot Forbes, known to those around him as "El", was an American conductor and musicologist who lived from the 20th of August 1917 to the 9th of January 2006. Late in life, he made a habit of turning up at undergraduate performances.…
- Karl SteinbuchKarl Steinbuch helped invent the German word for computer science. He later became a bestselling right-wing author.
- Larry O'BrienThe NBA championship trophy is named for a political operative, Larry O'Brien.
- Red AuerbachBoston restaurants once banned cigar smoking for everyone except Red Auerbach.