Albert Einstein leaves Nazi Germany for the United States (1933), and Kepler begins observing a bright new star in Ophiuchus (1604). Born on this day: Eminem, Blessed John Paul I and Rita Hayworth. Died: Frédéric Chopin, Gustav Kirchhoff and Santiago Ramón y Cajal.
33 events, 70 births and 54 deaths on this date.
Einstein was in the United States when Hitler took power, and chose not to return to Germany because of the Nazi persecution of Jews. He later became an American citizen in 1940, having already been remembered as the physicist who developed relativity.
Ferdinand Schmutzer / Adam Cuerden · Public domainKepler started tracking an unusually brilliant point of light that had suddenly turned up in the sky. Astronomers now call it Kepler's Supernova, after the German mathematician who recorded it.
August Köhler [1] · Public domain
Mother Teresa was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize for her charity work among Calcutta's destitute, carried out through the Missionaries of Charity she founded in 1950. The honour also came amid criticism that her hospices offered little medical care.
Túrelio · CC BY-SA 2.0 de
Thieves took Caravaggio's Nativity with Saints Francis and Lawrence from an oratory in Palermo, Sicily. The painter's dramatic use of light had a deep influence on Baroque art, which makes the loss a serious one.
Margarita Carmen Cansino, later known as Rita Hayworth, comes into the world. She went on to become one of 1940s Hollywood's biggest stars, nicknamed 'The Love Goddess' by the press and remembered for the 1946 film Gilda.
Columbia Pictures; photographer not identified · Public domain
Louis had become king as a child, when his father Henry IV was assassinated, and his mother ruled as regent. He took power himself in 1617 and leaned heavily on chief ministers, above all Cardinal Richelieu.
School of Philippe de Champaigne · Public domain
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Eminem is an American rapper, songwriter and record producer, widely seen as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop. His albums, from The Slim Shady LP to Recovery, have sold huge numbers worldwide.
Brendan_linden · CC0
Albino Luciani, who became Pope John Paul I, led the Catholic Church for just 33 days in 1978. Italians fondly called him the Pope of the Smile for his warmth.
Anefo · CC0
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer, best remembered for the 1946 noir Gilda and for her partnership with Fred Astaire. Her public battle with Alzheimer's disease later helped draw money and attention to research into the illness.
Columbia Pictures; photographer not identified · Public domain
Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist whose works, almost all for the piano, transformed the instrument and remain central to its repertoire. He died in Paris in 1849, aged 39, after years of poor health.
Maria Wodzińska · Public domain
Kirchhoff was a German physicist whose circuit laws still underpin how engineers analyse electrical networks. With Robert Bunsen he showed that each chemical element leaves its own pattern of light lines, founding modern spectroscopy.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domain
Spanish neuroscientist who drew the branching nerve cells of the brain with such accuracy that his sketches still appear in teaching today. He shared the 1906 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Camillo Golgi.
Public domain
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