__NOTOC__ Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January

January 1 – European Economic Community (EEC) founded.

January 4 – Sputnik 1 (launched on October 4, 1957) falls to Earth from its orbit and is burned up.

January 8 – 14-year-old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.

January 18 – Armed Lumbee Indians confront a handful of Klansmen in Maxton, North Carolina.

January 20 – Anne de Vries releases the fourth and final volume of Journey Through the Night

January 28 – Hall of Fame baseball player Roy Campanella is involved in an automobile accident that ends his career and leaves him paralyzed.

January 31 – The first successful American satellite, Explorer 1, is launched into orbit.

February

February 1 – Egypt and Syria unite to form the United Arab Republic.

February 2 – The word Aerospace is coined, from the words Aircraft (aero) and Spacecraft (space), taking into consideration that the Earth's atmosphere and outerspace is to be one, or a single realm.

February 5

* Gamel Abdel Nasser is nominated as the first president of the United Arab Republic.

* The Tybee Bomb, a 7,600 pound (3,500 kg) Mark 15 hydrogen bomb, is lost in the waters off Savannah, Georgia.

February 6 – Seven Manchester United footballers are among the 21 people killed in the Munich air disaster in West Germany on the return flight from a European Cup game in Yugoslavia. 23 people survive, but four of them, including manager Matt Busby and players Johnny Berry and Duncan Edwards, are in a serious condition.

February 11

* Marshal Chen Yi succeeds Zhou Enlai as Chinese Minister of Foreign affairs.

* Ruth Carol Taylor is the first African American woman hired as a flight attendant. Hired by Mohawk Airlines, her career lasts only six months, due to another discriminatory barrier—the airline's ban on married flight attendants.

February 14 – The Hashemite Kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan unite in the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan with Iraqi King Faisal II as head of state.

February 17 – Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare the patron saint of television.

February 20 – A test rocket explodes at Cape Canaveral.

February 21 – A peace symbol is designed and completed by Gerald Holtom, commissioned by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, in protest against the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment.

February 23

* Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world driving champion Juan Manuel Fangio, releasing him 28 hours later.

* Arturo Frondizi is elected president of Argentina.

February 24 – In Cuba, Fidel Castro's Radio Rebelde begins broadcasting from Sierra Maestra.

February 25 – Bertrand Russell launches the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

February 28 – One of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history occurs at Prestonsburg, Kentucky; 29 are killed.

March

March 1 – The Turkish passenger ship Uskudar capsizes and sinks at Izmit Bay, Kocaeli, Turkey; at least 300 die.

March 2 – A British team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs completes the first crossing of the Antarctic in Snow-cat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams in 99 days.

March 8 – The USS Wisconsin is decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896 (it is recommissioned October 22, 1988).

March 11 – A U.S. B-47 bomber accidentally drops an atom bomb on Mars Bluff, South Carolina. Its conventional explosives destroy a house and injure several people, but no nuclear fission occurs.

March 17 – Convention on the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) enters into force, founding the IMCO as a specialized agency of the United Nations.

March 17 – The United States launches the Vanguard 1 satellite.

March 19 – Monarch Underwear Company fire in New York.

March 24 – The U.S. Army inducts Elvis Presley, transforming The King Of Rock & Roll into U.S. private #53310761.

March 25 – Canada's Avro Arrow makes its debut flight.

March 26

* The United States Army launches Explorer 3.

* The 30th Academy Awards ceremony took place; The Bridge on the River Kwai wins 7 Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture.

March 27 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Premier of the Soviet Union.

April

April – Unemployment in Detroit reaches 20%, marking the height of the Recession of 1958 in the United States.

April 1 – The BBC Radiophonic Workshop is established.

April 3 – Castro's revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana.

April 4 – April 7 – In the first protest march for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from Hyde Park, London to Aldermaston, Berkshire, demonstrators demand the banning of nuclear weapons.

April 4 – Cheryl Crane, daughter of actress Lana Turner, fatally stabs her mother's gangster lover Johnny Stompanato (the stabbing is eventually ruled as self-defense).

April 6 – Soraya Esfandiary Bakhtiari divorces the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi after she is unable to produce any children.

April 14

* The satellite Sputnik 2 disintegrates in space after several orbits.

* Van Cliburn wins the Tchaikovsky International Competition for pianists in Moscow, breaking Cold War tensions.

April 15 – The San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8–0 at San Francisco's Seals Stadium, in the first Major League Baseball regular season game ever played in California.

April 17 – King Baudouin of Belgium officially opens the World Fair in Brussels, also known as Expo '58.

April 21 - United Airlines Flight 736 is involved in a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force F-100F-5-NA Super Sabre jet fighter near Las Vegas, Nevada. All 49 persons in both aircraft are killed.

May

May 1

* Arturo Frondizi becomes President of Argentina.

* The Nordic Passport Union comes into force.

May 9 – Actor-singer Paul Robeson, whose passport has been reinstated, sings in a sold-out one-man recital at Carnegie Hall. The recital is such a success that Robeson gives another one at Carnegie Hall a few days later. But after these two concerts, Robeson is seldom seen in public in the United States again. His Carnegie Hall concerts are later released on records and on CD.

May 10 – Interviewed in the Chave d'Ouro café, when asked about his rival António de Oliveira Salazar, Humberto Delgado utters one of the most famous comments in Portuguese political history: "Obviamente, demito-o! (Obviously, I'll sack him!)".

May 12 – A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada.

May 13

* French Algerian protesters seize government offices in Algiers, leading to a military coup.

* During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard M. Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.

May 15 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.

May 18 – An F-104 Starfighter sets a world speed record of .

May 20 – Fulgencio Batista's government launches a counteroffensive against Castro's rebels.

May 21 – United Kingdom Postmaster General Ernest Marples announces that from December, Subscriber Trunk Dialling will be introduced in the Bristol area.

May 23 – Explorer 1 ceases transmission.

May 30 – The bodies of unidentified soldiers killed in action during World War II and the Korean War are buried at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

June

June 1

* Charles de Gaulle is brought out of retirement to lead France by decree for 6 months.

* Iceland extends its fishing limits to 12 miles (22.2 km).

June 2 – In San Simeon, California, Hearst Castle opens to the public for guided tours.

June 4 – French President Charles De Gaulle visits Algeria.

June 8 – The SS Edmund Fitzgerald is launched; she will be the largest Lake freighter for more than a dozen years.

June 16 – Imre Nagy is hanged for treason in Hungary.

June 20 – The iron barque Omega of Callao, Peru (built in Scotland, 1887), sinks on passage carrying guano from the Pachacamac Islands for Huacho, the world’s last full rigged ship trading under sail alone.

June 27 – The Peronist Party becomes legal again in Argentina.

June 29 – Brazil beats Sweden 5–2 to win the football World Cup.

July

July 5 – Gasherbrum I, the 11th highest mountain in the world, is first ascended.

July 7

* President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into United States law.

* The first International House of Pancakes (IHOP) opens in Toluca Lake, Calif.

July 9 – A 7.5 Richter scale earthquake in Lituya Bay, Alaska, causes a landslide that produces a huge 520-meter high wave

July 10 – The first parking meters are installed in Britain.

July 11 – count Michael Rhedey von Kis-Rhede – direct decedent of King Samuel Aba of Hungary, at the age of 60, pistol-whipped and murdered over few hectares of land by the Czechoslovakian Communists during the collectivization process at his residence in Olcsvar, now Kosicke Olsany, Republic of Slovakia.

July 15 – In Lebanon, 5,000 United States Marines land in the capital Beirut in order to protect the pro-Western government there.

July 17 – British paratroopers arrive in Jordan; King Hussein has asked help against pressure from Iraq.

July 19 - The Beatles, then The Quarrymen, pay 17 shillings and 6 pence to have their first recording session where recorded That'll Be The Day by Buddy Holly and In Spite Of All The Danger by McCartney and Harrison.

July 20 – Various rebel groups in Cuba join forces but the communists do not join them.

July 24 – The first life peerage created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 is created in the United Kingdom.

July 26

* Explorer program: Explorer 4 is launched.

* Elizabeth II gives her son and heir apparent The Prince Charles the customary title of Prince of Wales.

July 29 – The U.S. Congress formally creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

July 31 – Chinese – Tibet Uprising

August

August 1 – The last Tom and Jerry episode ("Tot Watchers") made by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera is released. Tom and Jerry will not be released to theatres again until 1961.

August 3 – The nuclear powered submarine USS Nautilus becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole under water.

August 6 – Australian athlete Herb Elliott clips almost three seconds off the world record for the mile run at Santry Stadium, Dublin, recording a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds.

August 14 – A 4-engine Super Constellation aircraft belonging to KLM crashes into the sea with 99 people on board.

August 17 – The first Thor-Able rocket is launched, carrying Pioneer 0, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 17. The launch fails due to a first stage malfunction.

August 18

*Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.

*Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition, as the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He became first among 39 competitors.

August 23

* Chinese Civil War: The Second Taiwan Strait crisis begins with the People's Liberation Army's bombardment of Quemoy.

* President Dwight D. Eisenhower of the USA signs the Federal Aviation Act, transferring all authority over aviation in the USA to the newly created Federal Aviation Agency (FAA, later renamed Federal Aviation Administration).

August 27 – Operation Argus: The United States begins nuclear tests over the South Atlantic.

August 29 – Michael Jackson: King Of Pop entertainment legend is born in Gary, Indiana.

August 30 – September 1 – Riots between blacks and whites occur in Notting Hill, London.

September

September 1 – The first Cod War begins between UK and Iceland.

September 6 – Paul Robeson performs in concert at the Soviet Young Pioneer camp Artek.

September 12 – Jack St. Clair Kilby invents the first integrated circuit.

September 14 – Two rockets designed by German engineer Ernst Mohr (the first German post-war rockets) reach the upper atmosphere.

September 27 – Typhoon Ida kills at least 1,269 in Honshū, Japan.

September 28 – In France, a majority of 79% says yes to the constitution of the Fifth Republic.

September 30 – The U.S.S.R. performs a nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

October

October 1

* Tunisia and Morocco join the Arab League.

* NASA starts operations and replaces the NACA.

October 2 – Guinea declares itself independent from France.

October 4 – BOAC uses the new De Havilland Comet jets, to become the first airline to fly jet passenger services across the Atlantic.

October 9 – Pope Pius XII dies.

October 11 – Pioneer 1, the second and most successful of the 3 project Able space probes, becomes the first spacecraft launched by the newly formed NASA.

October 16 – UK TV series Blue Peter started.

October 21 – The Life Peerages Act entitles women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time. Baroness Swanbourough, Lady Reading and Baroness Barbara Wooton are the first to take their seats.

October 28 – Pope John XXIII succeeds Pope Pius XII as the 261st pope.

November

November 3 – The new UNESCO building is inaugurated in Paris.

November 10 – The Bossa nova is born in Rio de Janeiro, with Joao Gilberto's recording of "Chega de Saudade".

November 22 – The Menzies government in Australia is re-elected for a 5th term.

November 23 – Have Gun, Will Travel debuts on American radio.

November 25 – French Sudan gains autonomy as a self-governing member of the French Community.

November 28 – Chad, the Republic of the Congo, and Gabon become autonomous republics within the French Community.

November 29 - Ted Kennedy marries Joan Bennett at St. Joseph's Church in Bronxville, New York

November 30 – Gaullists win parliamentary elections in France.

December

December 1

* Adolfo López Mateos takes office as President of Mexico.

* At least 90 students and 3 nuns are killed in a fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago.

December 5

* Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen, when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost.

* The Preston bypass, the United Kingdom's first motorway, opens to traffic for the first time. This stretch is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.

December 6 – The 3rd launch of a Thor-Able rocket, carrying Pioneer 2, is unsuccessful due to a 3rd stage ignition failure.

December 9 – The right-wing John Birch Society is founded in the USA by Robert Welch, a retired candy manufacturer.

December 14 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first ever to reach the Southern Pole of Inaccessibility.

December 15 – Arthur L. Schawlow and Charles H. Townes of Bell Laboratories publish a paper in Physical Review Letters setting out the principles of the optical laser.

December 16 - A fire breaks out in the Vida Department Store in Bogota, Colombia and kills 84 persons.

December 19 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower broadcasts a message from a Project SCORE satellite.

December 21 – General Charles de Gaulle is elected president of France with 78.5% of the votes.

December 24 – A BOAC Bristol Britannia (312 G-AOVD) crashes near Winkton, England during a test flight.

December 25 – Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker (the George Balanchine version) is shown on prime-time television in color for the first time, as an episode of the CBS anthology series Playhouse 90.

December 28 – The Baltimore Colts beat The New York Giants 23–17 in overtime to win The NFL Championship.

December 29 – Rebel troops under Che Guevara begin to invade Santa Clara, Cuba. Fulgencio Batista resigns two days later, on the night of the 31st.

December 31

* As the year draws to a close, tallies reveal that, for the first time, total passengers carried by air exceeds total passengers carried by sea in transatlantic service.

Date unknown

During the International Geophysical Year, Earth's magnetosphere is discovered.

The Amirkabir University of Technology is founded.

Based on birth rates (per 1,000 population), the post-war baby boom ends in the United States as an 11-year decline in the birth rate begins (the longest on record in that country).

The last legal female genital cutting occurs in the United States.

Denatonium, the bitterest substance known, is discovered. It is used as an aversive agent in products such as bleach to reduce the risk of children drinking them.

The Jim Henson Company is founded.

The Japanese 10 yen coin ceases having serrated edges after a 5-year period beginning in 1953. All 10 yen coins since have smooth edges.

The largest solar maximum in the recorded history of solar maxima occurs.

Instant noodles go on sale for the first time.

The British Rally Championship begins its first year.

Illinois observes the centennial of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

Nikita Khrushchev orders Western allies to evacuate West Berlin within 6 months but backs down in the face of the allies' unity.

USA, USSR and Great Britain agree to stop testing atomic bombs for 3 years.

Welsh cultural critic Raymond Williams publishes Culture and Society.

The University of New Orleans Established

Births

January

January 1 – Grandmaster Flash, African-American hip-hop/rap DJ

January 2 – Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian pianist

January 3 – James J. Greco, American businessman

January 4 – Matt Frewer, Canadian/American actor (Max Headroom)

January 9 – Mehmet Ali Ağca, Turkish militant, would-be assassin of Pope John Paul II

January 11 – Vicki Peterson, American rock musician

January 13 – Ricardo Acuña, Chilean tennis player

January 15 – Boris Tadić, Serbian president

January 20 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor, martial artist and reality show participant

January 21 – Hussein Saeed Mohammed, Iraqi football player

January 24 – Jools Holland, British musician

January 25 – Dinah Manoff, American Tony-winning actress

January 26 – Ellen DeGeneres, American actress and comedian

January 27 – Kadri Mälk, Estonian artist and jewelry designer

February

February 1 – Ryo Horikawa, Japanese voice actor

February 4 – Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer (d. 2005)

February 8 – Sherri Martel, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)

February 11

* Michael Jackson, British broadcasting executive

* Regina Maršíková, Czechoslovakian tennis player

February 13 – Pernilla August, Swedish actress

February 14

* Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer

* Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, Basque separatist

February 16 – Ice-T, African-American rapper, songwriter, and actor

February 19 – Steve Nieve, English musician

February 21

* Jake Burns, Irish punk singer

* Mary Chapin Carpenter, American singer

February 25 – Kurt Rambis, American basketball player

February 26 – Susan Helms, American astronaut

February 28 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian activist (d. 2009)

March

March 1 – Nik Kershaw, English singer

March 3 – Miranda Richardson, English actress

March 5 – Andy Gibb, English-born singer (d. 1988)

March 7

* Rik Mayall, English comedian and actor

* Donna Murphy, American actress and singer

March 8 – Gary Numan, British singer

March 9 – Linda Fiorentino, American actress

March 10

* Steve Howe, American baseball player (d. 2006)

* Sharon Stone, American actress and producer

March 13 – Linda Robson, English actress

March 14 – Albert II, Prince of Monaco

March 18

* Kayo Hatta, American film director (d. 2005)

* John Elefante, American singer and producer (Kansas)

March 20 – Holly Hunter, American actress

March 21 – Gary Oldman, English actor and filmmaker

March 25 – James McDaniel, American actor

March 26 – Todd Joseph Miles Holden, American-born social scientist, author, basketball coach

March 27 – Jessica Soho, Philippine television celebrity and reporter

March 28

* Bart Conner, American gymnast

* Edesio Alejandro, Cuban music composer

* Mr. Perfect, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)

April

April 3 – Alec Baldwin, American actor (30 Rock)

April 4 – Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer (d. 1990)

April 10

* Yefim Bronfman, Russian-born pianist

* Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, African-American musician and record producer

April 11 – Luc Luycx, Belgian coin designer

April 12 – Ginka Zagorcheva, Bulgarian athlete

April 15

* Keith Acton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

* Benjamin Zephaniah, British writer and musician

April 21 – Andie MacDowell, American actress

April 24 – Brian Paddick, British former deputy assistant commissioner and most senior openly gay police officer

April 25 – Fish, Scottish singer

April 28 – Hal Sutton, American golfer

April 29 – Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress

May

May 4 – Keith Haring, American artist

May 10 – Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator

May 11 – Christian Brando, American actor and eldest child of Marlon Brando (d. 2008)

May 12

* Dries Van Noten, Belgian designer

* Eric Singer, American rock drummer

May 15 – Ron Simmons, American professional wrestler

May 18 – Toyah Willcox, English actress & singer

May 20 – Ron Reagan, political pundit and son of U.S. president Ronald Reagan

May 21 – Tom Feeney, American Republican politician from the state of Florida

May 23

* Mitch Albom, American author

* Drew Carey, American comedian and actor

* Lea DeLaria, American comedian and actress

May 25

* Paul Weller, English singer-songwriter

* Carrie Newcomer, American Singer-Songwriter & Musician

May 26 – Margaret Colin, American actress

May 27 – Neil Finn, New Zealand singer and songwriter

May 29

* Annette Bening, American actress

* Juliano Mer-Khamis, Israeli actor, director, filmmaker and political activist (d. 2011)

May 30 – Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer-songwriter

June

June 2 – Lex Luger, American professional wrestler

June 3 – Margot Käßmann, Lutheran theologian, German bishop

June 7 – Prince, American musician

June 8

* Cyril O'Reilly, American actor

* Keenen Ivory Wayans, African-American comedian, actor, and director

June 12 – Rebecca Holden, American actress, singer, and entertainer

June 14

* Masami Yoshida, Japanese athlete (d. 2000)

* Eric Heiden, American speed skater

June 15 – Wade Boggs, American baseball player

June 17 – Jello Biafra, American punk musician and activist (Dead Kennedys)

June 20 – Chuck Wagner, American actor

June 22 – Bruce Campbell, American actor, producer, writer and director

June 24 – Curt Fraser, American ice hockey coach

June 27 – Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer

June 28 – Félix Gray, French singer and songwriter

June 29

* Jeff Coopwood, American actor, broadcaster and singer

* Rosa Mota, Portuguese long-distance runner

June 30 – Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer

July

July 2 – Thomas Bickerton, American Methodist bishop

July 3 – Didier Mouron, Swiss artist.

July 5 – William Watterson, American cartoonist (Calvin and Hobbes)

July 6 – Jennifer Saunders, British comedienne and actress

July 7 – Michala Petri, Danish recorder player

July 8

* Kevin Bacon, American actor

* Pauline Quirke, British actress

July 15

* Mac Thornberry, American politician

* Austin Hayes, Irish footballer (d. 1986)

July 16 – Michael Flatley, Irish-born dancer

July 20 – Billy Mays, American infomercial salesperson (d. 2009)

July 22 – Tatsunori Hara, Japanese professional-baseball coach and player

July 28 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (d. 1981)

July 30 – Kate Bush, British singer and songwriter

July 31 – Mark Cuban, American entrepreneur and basketball team owner

August

August 1 – Adrian Dunbar, Irish actor and director

August 7

* Bruce Dickinson, English singer, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, director, musician, screenwriter, actor, marketing director, entrepreneur and songwriter

* Russell Baze, champion jockey

August 10 – Don Swayze, American actor

August 15 – Victor Shenderovich, Russian writer

August 16

* Madonna, American-born singer, songwriter, and actress

* Angela Bassett, African-American actress

August 17 – Belinda Carlisle, American singer

August 19 – Anthony Muñoz, American football player

August 20 – Nicholas Bell, English actor based in Australia

August 22 – Colm Feore, American-born actor

August 24 – Steve Guttenberg, American actor

August 25 – Tim Burton, American film director

August 27 – Normand Brathwaite, African-Canadian comedian and television and radio host

August 29

* Lenny Henry, British comedian

* Michael Jackson, American singer, songwriter and dancer (d. June 2009)

September

September 6

* Jeff Foxworthy, American comedian, actor, author

* Sione Vailahi, professional wrestler ("The Barbarian")

September 8

* Mitsuru Miyamoto, Japanese voice actor

* Reiko Terashima, Japanese manga artist and illustrator

September 10

* Chris Columbus (filmmaker), American film director/writer/producer

* Siobhan Fahey, Irish singer

September 11 – Julia Nickson-Soul, Singapore actress

September 13 – Pawel Przytocki, Polish conductor

September 14

* Michael Bollner, German actor

* Jeff Crowe, New Zealand cricketer

September 16

* Orel Hershiser, American baseball player

* Jennifer Tilly, Canadian/American actress

September 19

* Lita Ford, British musician

* Azumah Nelson, Ghanaian boxer

September 21 – Bruno Fitoussi, French poker player

September 22

* Andrea Bocelli, Italian tenor

* Joan Jett, American musician

September 23 – Marvin Lewis, American football coach

September 24 – Kevin Sorbo, American actor

September 25

* Michael Madsen, American actor

* Eamonn Healy, Irish chemist

September 27 – Irvine Welsh, Scottish writer

September 30 – Marty Stuart, American singer

October

October 14 – Thomas Dolby, English rock musician

October 16 – Tim Robbins, American actor

October 17 – Alan Jackson, American country singer and songwriter

October 20

* Viggo Mortensen, American actor

* Mark King, British musician

* Scott Hall, American professional wrestler

October 25

* Phil Daniels, English actor

* Kornelia Ender, German swimmer

October 27 – Simon Le Bon, English rock singer

October 29 – Blazej Balaz, Slovak painter

November

November 2 – Willie McGee, African-American baseball player

November 8 – Jeff Speakman, American actor and martial artst

November 10 – Vicky Rosti, Finnish singer, former Eurovision contestant

November 12 – Megan Mullally, American actress, singer and media personality

November 16

* Marg Helgenberger, American actress

* Boris Krivokapić, Serbian academic

November 17 – Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, American actress and singer

November 18 – Laura Miller, Mayor of Dallas, Texas

November 19 – Michael Wilbon, American sportswriter

November 21 – David Reivers, Jamaican actor

November 22

*Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress

*Bruce Payne, English actor and producer

November 27 – Tetsuya Komuro, Japanese music producer and song writer

November 28 – Dave Righetti, American baseball player

November 30 – Juliette Bergmann, Dutch bodybuilder

December

December 1

* Charlene Tilton, American actress

* Javier Aguirre, Mexican football player and manager

December 5 – Dynamite Kid, English professional wrestler

December 6 – Nick Park, English filmmaker and animator

December 10 – Cornelia Funke, German author

December 11 – Nikki Sixx, American rock musician

December 12

* Monica Attard, Australian journalist

* Lucie Guay, Canadian canoer

* Dag Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian musician

* Sheree J. Wilson, American actress

December 13 – Lynn-Holly Johnson, American ice skater and actress

December 14

* Mike Scott, Scottish singer-songwriter (The Waterboys)

* Spider Stacy, English musician (The Pogues)

* François Zocchetto, French politician

December 21 – Kevin Blackwell, English football manager

December 25

* Hanford Dixon, American football player

* Rickey Henderson, African-American baseball player

December 28 – Twila Paris, American Christian musician

December 29 – Lakhdar Belloumi, Algerian football player

December 31 – Bebe Neuwirth, American actress

Deaths

January–June

January 1

* Edward Weston, American photographer (b. 1886)

* Archibald Alphonso Alexander, American designer/governor (b. 1888)

January 7 – Margaret Anglin, stage actress (b. 1876)

January 8 – Paul Pilgrim, American athlete (b. 1883)

January 11 – Edna Purviance, American actress (b. 1895)

January 13 – Jesse L. Lasky, American film produer (b. 1880)

January 16 – Aubrey Mather, English actor (b. 1885)

January 19 – Cândido Rondon, Brazilian military officer (b. 1865)

January 30 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (b. 1878)

February 1 – Clinton Davisson, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)

February 2 – Walter Kingsford, English actor (b. 1881)

February 4

* Monta Bell, American actor (b. 1891)

* Henry Kuttner, American author (b. 1915)

February 6

* Geoff Bent (b. 1932)

* Roger Byrne (b. 1929)

* Eddie Colman (b. 1936)

* Mark Jones (b. 1933)

* David Pegg (b. 1935)

* Tommy Taylor (b. 1932)

* Liam "Billy" Whelan (b. 1935), all footballers that perished in the Munich air disaster

February 10 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete (b. 1899)

February 13

* Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1880)

* Georges Rouault, French painter (b. 1871)

* Helen Twelvetrees, American actress (b. 1908)

February 17 – Marguerite Snow, American actress (b. 1889)

February 20 – Thurston Hall, American actor (b. 1882)

February 21 – Duncan Edwards English footballer (b. 1936), injury in the Munich air disaster

February 27 – Harry Cohn, American film producer (b. 1891)

March 11 – Princess Ingeborg of Denmark (b. 1878)

March 20 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian politician (b. 1915) (car crash)

March 21 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American writer (b. 1923)

March 22 (in plane crash)

* Mike Todd, American film producer (b. 1909)

* Art Cohn, American screenwriter (b. 1909)

March 24 – Herbert Fields, American librettist and screenwriter (b. 1897)

March 25 – Tom Brown, American musician (b. 1888)

March 26 – Phil Mead, English cricketer (b. 1887)

March 28 – W. C. Handy, African-American blues composer (b. 1873)

April 2 – Willie Maley, Scottish football player and manager (b. 1868)

April 8 – George Jean Nathan, American drama critic (b. 1882)

April 15 – Estelle Taylor, American actress (b. 1894)

April 16 – Rosalind Franklin, British crystallographer (b. 1920)

April 19 – Billy Meredith, Welsh footballer (b. 1874)

May 2 – Henry Cornelius, South African-born director (b. 1913)

May 3 – Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)

May 7 – Mihkel Lüdig, Estonian composer, organist and choir conductor (b. 1880)

May 18 – Jacob Fichman, Israeli poet and essayist (b. 1881)

May 19 – Ronald Colman, English actor (b. 1891)

May 26 – Constantin Cantacuzino, Romanian aviator (b. 1905)

May 29 – Juan Ramón Jiménez, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)

June 6

* Lloyd Hughes, American actor (b. 1897)

* Virginia Pearson, American actress (b. 1886)

June 9 – Robert Donat, English actor (b. 1905)

June 13 – Edwin Keppel Bennett, British writer (b. 1887)

June 16

* Aleksandr Chervyakov, Prime Minister of the Byelorussian SSR (suicide) (b. 1892)

* Imre Nagy, Prime Minister of Hungary (executed) (b. 1896)

June 20 – Kurt Alder, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)

June 21 – Herbert Brenon, American film director (b. 1880)

June 26 – George Orton, Canadian athlete (b. 1876)

June 28 – Alfred Noyes, English poet (b. 1880)

July–December

July 2 – Martha Boswell, American singer (b. 1905)

July 14 (killed during coup d'état):

* King Faisal II of Iraq (b. 1935)

* 'Abd al-Ilah, former regent of Iraq (b. 1913)

July 15 – Julia Lennon, English mother of John Lennon (b. 1914)

July 18 – Henry Farman, pioneer French aviator and aircraft company founder (b. 1874)

July 20 – Franklin Pangborn, American actor (b. 1889)

July 24 – Mabel Ballin, American actress (b. 1887)

July 27

* Claire Chennault, American leader of the Flying Tigers (b. 1893)

* Harry Warner, American studio executive (b. 1881)

August 3 – Peter Collins, Formula 1 driver (b. 1931)

August 8 – Barbara Bennett, American actress (b. 1906)

August 14

* Frédéric Joliot, French physicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1900)

* Gladys Presley, American, mother of Elvis Presley (b. 1912)

August 16 – Paul Panzer, German actor (b. 1872)

August 18 – Bonar Colleano, American actor (b. 1924)

August 22 – Roger Martin du Gard, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)

August 24 – Paul Henry, Northern Irish artist (b. 1876)

August 26 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (b. 1872)

August 27 – Ernest Lawrence, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)

September 11

* Hans Grundig, German artist (b. 1901)

* Robert W. Service, Scottish-born Canadian poet (b. 1874)

September 16 – Alma Bennett, American actress (b. 1904)

September 23 – Alfred Piccaver, British-American operatic tenor (b. 1884)

October 9 – Pope Pius XII (b. 1876)

October 17

* Charlie Townsend, English cricketer (b. 1876)

* Paul Outerbridge American photographer (b. 1896)

October 15 – Jack Norton, American actor (b. 1882)

October 24 – G. E. Moore, British philosopher of (Principia Ethica) (b.

1873)

October 27 – Marshall Neilan, American actor and director (b. 1891)

October 29 – Zoë Akins, American playwright, poet, and author (b. 1886)

November 15

* Samuel Hopkins Adams, American writer (b. 1871)

* Tyrone Power, American actor (b. 1914)

November 19 – Vittorio Ambrosio, Italian general (b. 1879)

November 21 – Mel Ott, American baseball player (b. 1909)

November 24

* Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, English politician and diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1864)

* Harry Parke, American comedian (b. 1904)

November 27 – Artur Rodziński, Polish conductor (b. 1892)

December 1 – Boots Mallory, American actress (b. 1913)

December 8 – Tris Speaker, American baseball player (b. 1888)

December 12 – Albert Walsh, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1900)

December 13 – Tim Moore, American comedian (b. 1887)

December 15 – Wolfgang Ernst Pauli, Austrian-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)

December 21 – H.B. Warner, English actor (b. 1875)

December 29 – Doris Humphrey, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1895)

Nobel Prizes

Physics – Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Ilya Mikhailovich Frank, Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm

Chemistry – Frederick Sanger

Physiology or Medicine – George Wells Beadle, Edward Lawrie Tatum, Joshua Lederberg

Literature – Boris Leonidovich Pasternak

Peace – Georges Pire

References

Type	monarch
Name	Peter I
Succession	Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias
Reign	7 May 1682 – 8 February 1725 ()
Coronation	25 June 1682
Cor-type	Coronation
Predecessor	Feodor III
Successor	Catherine I
Spouse	Eudoxia LopukhinaMartha Skavronskaya
Issue	Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of RussiaGrand Duke AlexanderAnna, Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp Elizabeth of Russia Grand Duchess Natalia
Issue-link	#Issue
Issue-pipe	among others...
House	House of Romanov
Full name	Peter Alekseyevich Romanov
Father	Alexis I
Mother	Natalya Naryshkina
Birth date	June 09, 1672
Birth place	Moscow
Death date	February 08, 1725
Death place	Saint Petersburg
Burial place	Peter and Paul Cathedral
Signature	Peter the Great Signature.svg
Religion	Eastern Orthodox

Peter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov () ( – ) ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V. He carried out a policy of modernization and expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into a 5 million mi² (12 milion km²) Russian Empire, a major European power.

Life

Early years

From an early age his unique education (commissioned by Tsar Alexis I) was put in the hands of several tutors; most notably Nikita Zotov, Patrick Gordon and Paul Menesius. On 29 January 1676, Tsar Alexis died, leaving the sovereignty to Peter's elder half-brother, the weak and sickly Feodor III. Throughout this period, the government was largely run by Artamon Matveev, an enlightened friend of Alexis, the political head of the Naryshkin family and one of Peter's greatest childhood benefactors. This position changed when Feodor died six years later in 1682. As Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the Naryshkin and Miloslavsky families over who should inherit the throne. Peter's other half-brother, Ivan V, was the next for the throne, but he was chronically ill and of infirm mind. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose the 10-year-old Peter to become Tsar, his mother becoming regent. This arrangement was brought before the people of Moscow, as ancient tradition demanded, where the people ratified it. But one of Alexis' daughters from his first marriage, Sophia Alekseyevna, led a rebellion of the Streltsy (Russia's elite military corps). In the subsequent conflict, some of Peter's relatives and friends were murdered, including Matveev, and Peter witnessed some of these acts of political violence. The Streltsy uprising of April–May 1682 made it possible for Sophia, the Miloslavskys (the clan of Ivan), and their allies, to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being acclaimed as the senior of the two. Sophia acted as regent during the minority of the two sovereigns and exercised all power. Peculiarly, a large hole was cut in the back of the dual-seated throne used by Ivan and Peter. Sophia would sit behind the throne and listen as Peter conversed with nobles, also feeding him information and giving him responses to questions and problems. This throne can be seen in the Kremlin museum in Moscow. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat.

Peter was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his own name. He engaged in such pastimes as shipbuilding and sailing, as well as mock battles with his toy army. Peter's mother sought to force him to adopt a more conventional approach and arranged his marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina in 1689. The marriage was a failure, and ten years later Peter forced her to become a nun and thus freed himself from the union.

By the summer of 1689, Peter planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by two unsuccessful Crimean campaigns. When she learned of his designs, Sophia began to conspire with the leaders of the Streltsy, who continually aroused disorder and dissent of the tsar's rule. Unfortunately for Sophia, Peter, warned by the Streltsy, escaped in the middle of the night to the impenetrable monastery of Troitsky; there he slowly gathered his adherents and others, who perceived he would win the power struggle. She was therefore overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars. Peter forced Sophia to enter a convent, where she gave up her name and position as a member of the royal family.

Still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Natalya Naryshkina. It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an independent sovereign. Formally, Ivan V remained a co-ruler with Peter, although he was still ineffective. Peter became the sole ruler when Ivan died in 1696. by Alexandre Benois, 1916]]

Peter grew to be quite tall as an adult, especially for the time period. Standing at 6 ft 8 in(200 cm) in height, the Russian tsar was literally head and shoulders above his contemporaries both in Russia and throughout Europe. Peter, however, lacked the overall proportional heft and bulk generally found in a man that size. Both Peter's hands and feet were small, and his shoulders narrow for his height; likewise, his head was also small for his tall body. Added to this were Peter's noticeable facial tics, and, judging by descriptions handed down, he may have suffered from petit mal, a form of epilepsy.

Filippo Baltari, a young Italian visitor to Peter's court, wrote:

"Tsar Peter was tall and thin, rather than stout. His hair was thick, short, and dark brown; he had large eyes, black with long lashes, a well-shaped mouth, but the lower lip was slightly disfigured...For his great height, his feet seemed very narrow. His head was sometimes tugged to the right by convulsions."

Otherwise, judging by documents—or lack thereof—that have managed to survive to the present day, few contemporaries, either in or outside of Russia, commented on Peter's great height or appearance.

Children

Peter the Great had two wives with whom he had fourteen children; just three of them surviving to adulthood. His eldest child and heir, Alexei, was suspected of being involved in a plot to overthrow the Emperor. Alexei was tried and confessed during the tortured questioning conducted by a secular court, where he was convicted and sentenced to be executed. The sentence could be carried out only with Peter's signed authorization, and Alexei died in prison as Peter hesitated before making the decision. Alexei's death most likely resulted from the injuries suffered during his torture.

1696]]

Early reign

Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia. Heavily influenced by his advisors from Western Europe, Peter reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime power. He faced much opposition to these policies at home, but brutally suppressed any and all rebellions against his authority, the rebelling of streltsy, Bashkirs, Astrakhan and including the greatest civil uprising of his reign, the Bulavin Rebellion. Further, Peter implemented social modernization in an absolute manner by requiring courtiers, state officials, and the military to shave their beards and adopt modern clothing styles.

To improve his nation's position on the seas, Peter sought to gain more maritime outlets. His only outlet at the time was the White Sea at Arkhangelsk. The Baltic Sea was at the time controlled by Sweden in the north, while the Black Sea was controlled by the Ottoman Empire in the south. Peter attempted to acquire control of the Black Sea, but to do so he would have to expel the Tatars from the surrounding areas. He was forced, as part of an agreement with Poland, which ceded Kiev to Russia, to wage war against the Crimean Khan and against the Khan's overlord, the Ottoman Sultan. Peter's primary objective became the capture of the Ottoman fortress of Azov, near the Don River. In the summer of 1695 Peter organized the Azov campaigns to take the fortress, but his attempts ended in failure. Peter returned to Moscow in November of that year, and promptly began building a large navy. He launched about thirty ships against the Ottomans in 1696, capturing Azov in July of that year. On 12 September 1698, Peter officially founded the first Russian Navy base, Taganrog. by Mark Antokolski]] Peter knew that Russia could not face the Ottoman Empire alone. In 1697, he traveled incognito to Europe on an 18-month journey with a large Russian delegation–the so-called "Grand Embassy"—to seek the aid of the European monarchs. Peter's hopes were dashed; France was a traditional ally of the Ottoman Sultan, and Austria was eager to maintain peace in the east whilst conducting its own wars in the west. Peter, furthermore, had chosen the most inopportune moment; the Europeans at the time were more concerned about who would succeed the childless Spanish King Charles II than about fighting the Ottoman Sultan.

The "Grand Embassy", although failing to complete the mission of creating an anti-Ottoman alliance, still continued to travel across Europe. In visiting Holland, Peter learned much about the life in Western Europe. He studied shipbuilding in Zaandam (the house he lived in is now a museum, the Tsar Peter house) and Amsterdam, and later put this learning to use in helping build Russia's navy during his rule. Thanks to the mediation of Nicolaas Witsen, mayor of Amsterdam and expert on Russia par excellence, the Tsar was given the opportunity to gain practical experience in the largest shipyard in the world, belonging to the Dutch East India Company, for a period of four months. The Tsar helped with the construction of an East Indiaman especially laid down for him: Peter and Paul. During his stay the tsar engaged many skilled workers such as builders of locks, fortresses, shipwrights and seamen, including Cornelis Cruys, a vice-admiral who became under Franz Lefort the Tsar's advisor in maritime affairs. Besides Peter paid a visit to Frederik Ruysch, who taught him how to draw teeth and catch butterflies. Also Ludolf Bakhuysen, a painter of seascapes and Jan van der Heyden the inventor of the fire hose, received Peter, who was keen on learning and bringing home what he had seen. On 16 January 1698 Peter organized his farewell party and invited Johan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen, who had to sit between Lefort and the tsar and drink.

, 1698. This portrait was Peter's gift to the King of England.]] In England he met with King William III, visited Greenwich and Oxford, was painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller and saw a Royal Navy Fleet Review at Deptford. He also travelled to the fledgling city of Manchester to learn the techniques of city building he would later use to great effect at Saint Petersburg. Then the Embassy went to Leipzig, Dresden and Vienna. He spoke with August the Strong and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Embassy did not make it to Venice.

Peter's visit was cut short in 1698, when he was forced to rush home by a rebellion of the streltsy. The rebellion was, however, easily crushed before Peter returned home from England; of the Tsar's troops, only one was killed. Peter nevertheless acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers. Over 1200 of the rebels were tortured and executed, and Peter ordered that their bodies be publicly exhibited as a warning to future conspirators. The streltsy were disbanded, and the individual they sought to put on the Throne—Peter's half-sister Sophia—was forced to become a nun.

Also, upon his return from his European tour, Peter sought to end his unhappy marriage. He divorced the Tsaritsa, Eudoxia Lopukhina. The Tsaritsa had borne Peter three children, although only one, the Tsarevich Alexei, had survived past his childhood.

In 1698, Peter sent a delegation to Malta under boyar Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev, to observe the training and abilities of the Knights of Malta and their fleet. Sheremetyev also investigated the possibility of future joint ventures with the Knights, including action against the Turks and the possibility of a future Russian naval base.

Peter's visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European customs were in several respects superior to Russian traditions. He commanded all of his courtiers and officials to cut off their long beards—causing his Boyars, who were very fond of their beards, great upset—and wear European clothing. Boyars who sought to retain their beards were required to pay an annual beard tax of one hundred rubles. He also sought to end arranged marriages, which were the norm among the Russian nobility, because he thought such a practice was not only barbaric but also led to domestic violence since the partners usually resented each other in this forced union.

In 1699, Peter also changed the celebration of new year from 1 September to 1 January. Traditionally, the years were reckoned from the purported creation of the World, but after Peter's reforms, they were to be counted from the birth of Christ. Thus, in the year 7207 of the old Russian calendar, Peter proclaimed that the Julian Calendar was in effect and the year was 1700.

Great Northern War

Peter made a temporary peace with the Ottoman Empire that allowed him to keep the captured fort of Azov, and turned his attention to Russian maritime supremacy. He sought to acquire control of the Baltic Sea, which had been taken by the Swedish Empire a half-century earlier. Peter declared war on Sweden, which was at the time led by King Charles XII. Sweden was also opposed by Denmark-Norway, Saxony, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. , 1859]]

Russia turned out to be ill-prepared to fight the Swedes, and their first attempt at seizing the Baltic coast ended in disaster at the Battle of Narva in 1700. In the conflict, the forces of Charles XII used a blinding snowstorm to their advantage. After the battle, Charles XII decided to concentrate his forces against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, giving Peter I time to reorganize the Russian army. At the end of February 1701 he met with Polish King Augustus II the Strong in Biržai, where both the rulers after several days of orgy of drinking arranged competitions of shooting the cannons that won the Polish King.

As the Poles and Lithuanians fought against the Swedes, Peter founded the city of Saint Petersburg ( named after Saint Peter the Apostle) in Ingermanland (province of Swedish empire, which he had captured) in 1703. He forbade the building of stone edifices outside Saint Petersburg, which he intended to become Russia's capital, so that all stonemasons could participate in the construction of the new city. He also took Martha Skavronskaya as a mistress. Martha converted to the Russian Orthodox Church and took the name Catherine, allegedly marrying Peter in secret in 1707. In any case Peter valued Catherine and proceeded to marry her again (this time officially) at Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on 9 February 1712.

Following several defeats, the Polish King August II abdicated in 1706. Charles XII turned his attention to Russia, invading it in 1708. After crossing into Russia, Charles defeated Peter at Golovchin in July. In the Battle of Lesnaya, however, Charles suffered his first loss after Peter crushed a group of Swedish reinforcements marching from Riga. Deprived of this aid, Charles was forced to abandon his proposed march on Moscow.

(a mosaic by Mikhail Lomonosov)]]

Charles XII refused to retreat to Poland or back to Sweden, instead invading Ukraine. Peter withdrew his army southward, destroying any property that could assist the Swedes along the way. Deprived of local supplies, the Swedish army was forced to halt its advance in the winter of 1708–1709. In the summer of 1709, they nevertheless resumed their efforts to capture Ukraine, culminating in the Battle of Poltava on 27 June. The battle was a decisive defeat for Swedish forces, ending Charles' campaign in Ukraine and forcing him into exile in the Ottoman Empire. In Poland, August II was restored as King.

Peter, overestimating the support he would receive from Balkan allies, attacked the Ottoman Empire, initiating the Russo-Turkish War of 1710. Normally, the Boyar Duma would have exercised power during his absence. Peter, however, mistrusted the boyars; he instead abolished the Duma and created a Senate of ten members. Peter's campaign in the Ottoman Empire was disastrous, and in the ensuing peace treaty, Peter was forced to return the Black Sea ports he had seized in 1697. And in 18th century Russia, few people (men and women) lived to over a half century, therefore very few men became monks during Peter's reign, much to the dismay of the Russian Church.

In 1722, Peter created a new order of precedence, known as the Table of Ranks. Formerly, precedence had been determined by birth. To deprive the Boyars of their high positions, Peter directed that precedence should be determined by merit and service to the Emperor. The Table of Ranks continued to remain in effect until the Russian monarchy was overthrown in 1917. In addition, Peter decided that all of the children of the nobility should have some early education, especially in the areas of sciences. Therefore, on 28 February 1714, he issued a decree on compulsory education, which dictated that all Russian 10- to 15-year-old children of the nobility, government clerks, and even lesser ranked officials, must learn basic mathematics and geometry, and should be tested on it at the end of their studies. , a painting by Nikolai Ge (1871)]] Peter also introduced new taxes to fund improvements in Saint Petersburg. He abolished the land tax and household tax, and replaced them with a capitation. The taxes on land and on households were payable only by individuals who owned property or maintained families; the new head taxes, however, were payable by serfs and paupers.

In 1724, Peter had his second wife, Catherine, crowned as Empress, although he remained Russia's actual ruler. All of Peter's male children had died—the eldest son, Alexei, had been tortured and killed on Peter's orders in 1718 because he had disobeyed his father and opposed official policies. At the same time, Alexei's mother Eudoxia had also been punished; she was dragged from her home and tried on false charges of adultery. A similar fate befell Peter's beautiful mistress, Anna Mons, in 1704.

In 1725, construction of Peterhof, a palace near Saint Petersburg, was completed. Peterhof (Dutch for "Peter's Court") was a grand residence, becoming known as the "Russian Versailles".

Death

, by Nikitin]] , informally known as the Bronze Horseman]] In the winter of 1723, Peter, whose overall health was never robust, began having problems with his urinary tract and bladder. In the summer of 1724 a team of doctors performed the necessary surgery releasing upwards of four pounds of blocked urine. Peter remained bedridden till late autumn. Then in the first week of October, restless and certain he was cured, Peter began a lengthy inspection tour of various projects. According to legend, it was in November, while at Lakhta along the Finnish Gulf to inspect some ironworks, that Peter saw a group of soldiers drowning not far from shore and, wading out into near-waist deep water, came to their rescue.

This icy water rescue is said to have exacerbated Peter's bladder problems and caused his death. The story, however, has been viewed with skepticism by some historians, pointing out that the German chronicler Jacob von Stählin is the only source for the story, and it seems unlikely that no one else would have documented such an act of heroism. This, plus the interval of time between these actions and Peter's death seems to preclude any direct link.

In early January 1725, Peter was struck once again with uremia. Legend has it that before lapsing into unconsciousness Peter asked for a paper and pen and scrawled an unfinished note that read: "Leave all to...." and then, exhausted by the effort, asked for his daughter Anna to be summoned.

Peter died between four and five in the morning 8 February 1725. An autopsy revealed his bladder to be infected with gangrene. He was fifty-two years, seven months old when he died, having reigned forty-two years.

Ancestors

Issue

Popular culture

Peter has been featured in many books, plays, films and games including the poems The Bronze Horseman, Poltava and the unfinished novel Peter the Great's Negro, all by Alexander Pushkin. The former dealt with a The Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue raised in Peter's honour. Alexey Nikolayevich Tolstoy wrote a biographical historical novel about him, named Pëtr I, in the 1930s, which, along with its adaptations, became a major influence on Peter's subsequent portrayals.

There is a 1976 film, Skaz pro to, kak tsar Pyotr arapa zhenil (How Tsar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor), starring Aleksey Petrenko as Peter, and Vladimir Vysotsky as Abram Petrovich Gannibal. Much of the film shows Peter's attempt to build the Baltic Fleet.

The 2007 film, Sluga Gosudarev, depicts the unsavoury brutal side of Peter during the campaign.

Peter was played by Jan Niklas and Maximilian Schell in the 1986 NBC miniseries Peter the Great.

A character based on Peter plays a major role in The Age of Unreason, a series of four alternate history novels written by American science fiction and fantasy author Gregory Keyes. Peter is one of many supporting characters in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle – mainly featuring in the third novel, The System of the World.

See also

Government reform of Peter I

History of the administrative division of Russia

Reforms of Peter I of Russia

Russian battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy, a Russian Navy battlecruiser named after Peter the Great

Russian history, 1682-1796

Tsars of Russia family tree

Notes

References

Brickner Alexander Gustavovich. (1902–1903) An Illustrated History of Peter the Great (Иллюстрированная история Петра Великого) at Runivers.ru in DjVu and PDF formats

Graham, Stephen Peter the Great: A Life of Peter I of Russia called The Great Biographical work with 367 pages, plus Index. Not Illustrated, other than a black and white frontispiece portrait of Peter the Great.

Hughes, Lindsey. Russia in the Age of Peter the Great. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 1998 (hardcover, ISBN 0-300-07539-1; paperback, ISBN 0-300-08266-5).

Hughes, Lindsey. Peter the Great and the West: New Perspectives (Studies in Russian and Eastern European History). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 (hardcover, ISBN 0-333-92009-0).

Hughes, Lindsey. Peter the Great: A Biography. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 2002 (hardcover, ISBN 0-300-09426-4); 2004 (paperback, ISBN 0-300-10300-X).

Troyat, Henri. Peter the Great. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1987 (hardcover), ISBN 0525245472

Category:Russian tsars Category:Russian emperors Category:House of Romanov Category:City founders Category:People from Moscow Category:Russian inventors Category:Russian Orthodox Christians Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Russia Category:Characters of Russian folklore Category:Characters in Bylina Category:1672 births Category:1725 deaths Category:Orthodox monarchs Category:Modern child rulers Category:Burials at Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Category:Recipients of the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called Category:Knights of the Elephant Category:Russian military personnel of the Great Northern War Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences Category:Filicides Category:18th-century Russian people Category:17th-century Russian people Category:People of the Regency of Philippe d'Orléans

Name	Chuck Berry
Caption	Berry in Örebro, Sweden, on July 18, 2007
Birth name	Charles Edward Anderson Berry
Background	solo_singer
Born	October 18, 1926St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Instrument	Guitar, vocals
Genre	Rock and roll, blues,
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1955–present
Label	Chess, Mercury, Atco
Website	www.chuckberry.com
Notable instruments	Gibson ES-355

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (born October 18, 1926) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Chuck Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics focusing on teen life and consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.

Born into a middle class family in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry had an interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance at Sumner High School. While still a high school student he served a prison sentence for armed robbery between 1944 and 1947. On his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influenced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of blues player T-Bone Walker, he was performing in the evenings with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May, 1955, and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess of Chess Records. With Chess he recorded "Maybellene"—Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red"—which sold over a million copies, reaching #1 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues chart. By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star with several hit records and film appearances to his name as well as a lucrative touring career. He had also established his own St. Louis-based nightclub, called Berry's Club Bandstand. But in January, 1962, Berry was sentenced to three years in prison for offenses under the Mann Act—he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines.

After his release in 1963, Berry had several more hits, including "No Particular Place To Go", "You Never Can Tell", and "Nadine", but these did not achieve the same success, or lasting impact, of his 1950s songs, and by the 1970s he was more in demand as a nostalgic live performer, playing his past hits with local backup bands of variable quality. Berry is included in several Rolling Stone "Greatest of All Time" lists, including being ranked fifth on their 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll included three of Chuck Berry's songs: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "Rock and Roll Music". Today – at the age of – Berry continues to play live.

Early life and apprenticeship with Johnnie Johnson (1926–54)

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Berry was the fourth child in a family of six. He grew up in the north St. Louis neighborhood known as "The Ville," an area where many middle class St. Louis people lived at the time. His father, Henry, was a contractor and deacon of a nearby Baptist church, his mother Martha a certified public school principal. His middle class upbringing allowed him to pursue his interest in music from an early age and he gave his first public performance in 1941 while still at Sumner High School. Just three years later, in 1944, while still at Sumner High School, he was arrested and convicted of armed robbery after robbing three shops in Kansas City and then stealing a car at gunpoint with some friends. Berry's own account in his autobiography is that his car broke down and he then flagged down a passing car and stole it at gunpoint with a non-functional pistol. Berry was sent to the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men at Algoa, near Jefferson City, Missouri, Berry supported his family doing a number of jobs in St. Louis: working briefly as a factory worker at two automobile assembly plants, as well as being janitor for the apartment building where he and his wife lived. Afterwards he trained as a beautician at the Poro College of Cosmetology, founded by Annie Turnbo Malone. He was doing well enough by 1950 to buy a "small three room brick cottage with a bath" in Whittier Street, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

By the early 1950s, Berry was working with local bands in the clubs of St. Louis as an extra source of income. as well as taking guitar lessons from his friend Ira Harris that laid the foundation for his guitar style. By early 1953 Berry was performing with Johnnie Johnson's trio, starting a long-time collaboration with the pianist. Although the band played mostly blues and ballads, the most popular music among whites in the area was country. Berry wrote, "Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering 'who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?' After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it."

Signing with Chess: "Maybellene" to "Come On" (1955–62)

In May 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago where he met Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess of Chess Records. Berry thought his blues material would be of most interest to Chess, but to his surprise it was an old country and western recording by Bob Wills, entitled "Ida Red" that got Chess's attention. Chess had seen the rhythm and blues market shrink and was looking to move beyond it, and he thought Berry might be the artist for that purpose. So on May 21, 1955 Berry recorded an adaptation of "Ida Red"—"Maybellene"—which featured Johnnie Johnson on piano, Jerome Green (from Bo Diddley's band) on the maracas, Jasper Thomas on the drums and Willie Dixon on the bass. "Maybellene" sold over a million copies, reaching #1 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues chart and #5 on the 10 September 1955 Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart.

At the end of June 1956, his song "Roll Over Beethoven" reached #29 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and Berry toured as one of the "Top Acts of '56". He and Carl Perkins became friends. Perkins said that "I knew when I first heard Chuck that he'd been affected by country music. I respected his writing; his records were very, very great." As they toured, Perkins discovered that Berry not only liked country music, but knew about as many songs as he did. Jimmie Rodgers was one of his favorites. "Chuck knew every Blue Yodel and most of Bill Monroe's songs as well," Perkins remembered. "He told me about how he was raised very poor, very tough. He had a hard life. He was a good guy. I really liked him."

In late 1957 Berry took part in Alan Freed's "Biggest Show of Stars for 1957" United States tour with the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and others. He also guest starred on ABC's The Guy Mitchell Show, having sung his hit song "Rock 'n' Roll Music". The hits continued from 1957 to 1959, with Berry scoring over a dozen chart singles during this period, including the top 10 U.S. hits "School Days", "Rock and Roll Music", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and "Johnny B. Goode". He appeared in two early rock and roll movies. The first was Rock Rock Rock, released in 1956. He is shown singing "You Can't Catch Me." He had a speaking role as himself in the 1959 film Go, Johnny, Go! along with Alan Freed, and was also shown performing his songs "Johnny B. Goode," "Memphis, Tennessee," and "Little Queenie." His performance of "Sweet Little Sixteen" at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 is captured in the motion picture Jazz on a Summer's Day.

By the end of the 1950s, Berry was an established star with several hit records and film appearances to his name, as well as a lucrative touring career. He had established a racially integrated St. Louis-based nightclub, called Berry's Club Bandstand, and was investing in real estate. But in December 1959, Berry was arrested under the Mann Act after an allegation that he had sex with a 14-year-old Apache waitress whom he had transported over state lines to work as a hat check girl at his club. After an initial two-week trial in March 1960, Berry was convicted, fined $5,000, and sentenced to five years in prison. Berry's appeal that the judge's comments and attitude were racist and prejudiced the jury against him was upheld, and a second trial was heard in May and June 1961, which resulted in Berry being given a three-year prison sentence. After another appeal failed, Berry served one and one half years in prison from February 1962 to October 1963. Berry had continued recording and performing during the trials, though his output had slowed down as his popularity declined; his final single released before being imprisoned was "Come On".

"Nadine" and move to Mercury (1963–69)

When Berry was released from prison in 1963, he was able to return to recording and performing due to the British invasion acts of the 1960s—most notably the Beatles and the Rolling Stones—having kept up an interest in his music by releasing cover versions of his songs; along with other bands reworking his songs, such as the Beach Boys basing their 1963 hit "Surfin' USA" on Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". In 1964–65 Berry released eight singles, including three, "No Particular Place To Go" (a reworking of "School Day"), "You Never Can Tell", and "Nadine," which achieved commercial success, reaching the top 20 of the Billboard 100. Between 1966 and 1969 Berry released five albums on the Mercury label, including his first live album Live at Fillmore Auditorium in which he was backed by the Steve Miller Band. Berry was still a top concert draw. In May 1964, he did a successful tour of the UK, He also played at large events in North America, such as the Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park in July 1969, and the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in October.

Back to Chess: "My Ding-a-Ling" to White House concert (1970–79)

}} Berry returned to Chess from 1970 to 1973. There were no hit singles from the 1970 album Back Home, then in 1972 Chess released a live recording of "My Ding-a-Ling", a novelty song which Berry had recorded in a different version on his 1968 LP "From St. Louie to Frisco" as "My Tambourine". The track became Berry's only No. 1 single. A live recording of "Reelin' And Rockin'" was also issued as a follow-up single that same year and would prove to be Berry's final top-40 hit in both the U.S. and the UK. Both singles were featured on the part-live/part-studio album The London Chuck Berry Sessions which was one of a series of London Sessions albums which included other Chess mainstay artists Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Berry's second tenure with Chess ended with the 1975 album Chuck Berry, after which he did not make a studio record until 1979's Rock It for Atco Records, his last studio album to date.

In the 1970s Berry toured on the basis of his earlier successes. He was on the road for many years, carrying only his Gibson guitar, confident that he could hire a band that already knew his music no matter where he went. Allmusic has said that in this period his "live performances became increasingly erratic, [...] working with terrible backup bands and turning in sloppy, out-of-tune performances" which "tarnished his reputation with younger fans and oldtimers" alike. Among the many bandleaders performing a backup role with Chuck Berry were Bruce Springsteen and Steve Miller when each was just starting his career. Springsteen related in the video Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll that Berry did not even give the band a set list and just expected the musicians to follow his lead after each guitar intro. Berry neither spoke to nor thanked the band after the show. Nevertheless, Springsteen backed Berry again when he appeared at the concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. At the request of Jimmy Carter, Chuck Berry performed at the White House on June 1, 1979.

Berry's type of touring style, traveling the "oldies" circuit in the 1970s (where he was often paid in cash by local promoters) added ammunition to the Internal Revenue Service's accusations that Berry was a chronic income tax evader. Facing criminal sanction for the third time, Berry pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was sentenced to four months in prison and 1,000 hours of community service—doing benefit concerts—in 1979.

Still on the road (1980–present)

Berry continued to play 70 to 100 one-nighters per year in the 1980s, still traveling solo and requiring a local band to back him at each stop. In 1986, Taylor Hackford made a documentary film, Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, of a celebration concert for Berry's sixtieth birthday, organised by Keith Richards, in which Berry reveals his bitterness at the fame and financial success that Richards achieved on the back of Berry's songs. Eric Clapton, Etta James, Julian Lennon, Robert Cray and Linda Ronstadt, among others, appeared with Berry on stage and film. During the concert, Berry played a Gibson ES-355, the luxury version of the ES-335 that he favored on his 1970s tours. Richards played a black Fender Telecaster Custom, Cray a Fender Stratocaster and Clapton a Gibson ES 350T, the same guitar Berry used on his early recordings.

In the late 1980s, Berry bought a restaurant in Wentzville, Missouri, called The Southern Air, and in 1990 he was sued by several women who claimed that he had installed a video camera in the ladies' bathroom. Berry claimed that he had the camera installed to catch red-handed a worker who was suspected of stealing from the restaurant. Though his guilt was never proven in court, Berry opted for a class action settlement with 59 women. Berry's biographer, Bruce Pegg, estimated that it cost Berry over $1.2 million plus legal fees. It was during this time that he began using Wayne T. Schoeneberg as his legal counsel. Reportedly, a police raid on his house did find videotapes of women using the restroom, and one of the women was a minor. Also found in the raid were 62 grams of marijuana. Felony drug and child-abuse charges were filed. In order to avoid the child-abuse charges, Berry agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana. He was given a six-month suspended jail sentence, two years' unsupervised probation, and ordered to donate $5,000 to a local hospital.

In November 2000, Berry again faced legal charges when he was sued by his former pianist Johnnie Johnson, who claimed that he co-wrote over 50 songs, including "No Particular Place to Go", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Roll Over Beethoven", that credit Berry alone. The case was dismissed when the judge ruled that too much time had passed since the songs were written.

Currently, Berry usually performs one Wednesday each month at Blueberry Hill, a restaurant and bar located in the Delmar Loop neighborhood in St. Louis. In 2008, Berry toured Europe, with stops in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, and Spain. In mid-2008, he played at Virgin Festival in Baltimore, MD. He presently lives in Ladue, Missouri, approximately 10 miles west of St. Louis. During a New Year's Day 2011 concert in Chicago, Berry, suffering from exhaustion, passed out and had to be helped off stage.

Legacy

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A pioneer of rock music, Berry was a significant influence on the development of both the music and the attitude associated with the rock music lifestyle. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Chuck Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics successfully aimed to appeal to the early teenage market by using graphic and humorous descriptions of teen dances, fast cars, high-school life, and consumer culture, to produce a clear and exciting sound that many later guitar musicians would acknowledge as a major influence in their own style. particularly his one-legged hop routine, and the "duck walk", which he first used as a child when he walked "stooping with full-bended knees, but with my back and head vertical" under a table to retrieve a ball and his family found it entertaining; he used it when "performing in New York for the first time and some journalist branded it the duck walk."

The rock critic Robert Christgau considers him "the greatest of the rock and rollers," while John Lennon said that "if you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'." Ted Nugent said "If you don't know every Chuck Berry lick, you can't play rock guitar." Among the honors he has received, have been the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2000, and being named seventh on Time Magazine's 2009 list of the 10 best electric guitar players of all-time. On May 14, 2002, Chuck Berry was honored as one of the first BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was presented the award along with BMI affiliates Bo Diddley and Little Richard.

Berry is included in several Rolling Stone "Greatest of All Time" lists. In September 2003, the magazine named him number 6 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". This was followed in November of the same year by his compilation album The Great Twenty-Eight being ranked 21st in the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The following year, in March 2004, Berry was ranked fifth out of "The Immortals – The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In June 2008, his song "Johnny B. Goode" ranked first place in the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time".

A statue tall of Berry, funded by donations, is being erected along the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The dedication ceremony is scheduled for July 29, 2011.

Discography

References

External links

Official website

* Category:1926 births Category:Living people Category:African American guitarists Category:African American singer-songwriters Category:African American rock singers Category:American rock guitarists Category:American blues guitarists Category:American rhythm and blues guitarists Category:American male singers Category:American robbers Category:American rock singer-songwriters Category:American people convicted of tax crimes Category:Baptists from the United States Category:Blues Hall of Fame inductees Category:Chess Records artists Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Lead guitarists Category:Musicians from St. Louis, Missouri Category:People convicted of violating the Mann Act Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:St. Louis blues musicians