Salvatore Phillip “Sonny” Bono was born today, February 16, in 1935. Bono, best known as the husband, duet partner, and ex-husband of Cher, was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades. Bono died on January 5, 1998, a month and 11 days short of his 63rd birthday, of injuries sustained when he hit a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California.
Sylvia Plath died today, February 11, in 1963. She was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. Born in Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College, Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a professional poet and writer. Following a long struggle with depression and a marital separation, Plath committed suicide in 1963. Controversy continues to surround the events of her life and death, as well as her writing and legacy. (info from: Wikipedia)
Jeremy Lusk, star of a daredevil sport known as freestyle motocross and a popular action sports hero, died today, Febuary 10th, in 2009, from head injuries suffered during a crash at a competition in San Jose, Costa Rica. He was 24. Lusk, who was born in San Diego in 1984 and had been riding motorcycles since he was 3, turned pro at the age of 19 and was coming off his most successful year as a professional rider.
Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the first warrior (bakufu) shogun government of Kamakura, Japan, died today, February 9th in the year 1199. Though his death was so very many years ago, his likeness as an iconic Shogun warrior has been portrayed in many pieces of art, including this statue in at Genjiyama Park; Kamakura, Japan.
Today February 7th, is Charles Dickens 200th Birthday. As we all know, he was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature’s most iconic novels including Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and David Copperfield.
George Herman Ruth, Jr was born today, February 6th in the year 1895. He passed on August 16, 1948. He is best known as “Babe” Ruth and nicknamed “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat”. He was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke into the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder and subsequently became one of the league’s most prolific hitters. (info from: Wikipedia)
Today February 4th, in the year 1983, Karen Carpenter, half of the singing duo the Carpenters passed away. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love. She suffered from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder of extreme weight loss dieting, which was a little-known illness at the time. Although she had begun recovery with a doctor supervised program and regained 30 lbs, permanent damage to her body had been sustained from the years of extreme weight loss dieting and she died at the age of 32. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California. (info from: Wikipedia)
On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song “American Pie”. The plane crash has been called the first and greatest tragedy rock and roll has ever suffered. (Info from: Wikipedia)
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