Who Has a Birthday Today?

Dr. Phil McGraw
September 1, 1950-Present
1) Was a college football player. He also has a Ph.D. in Psychology.
2) He began a self-motivation practice called Pathways.
3) In the fall of 2002, he show, “Dr. Phill”, was aired. It was the highest rated show since “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

Johann Pachelbel
September 1, 1653- March 3, 1706
Johann Pachelbel was born into a middle-class family. As a young child, he received music lessons from the cantor of St. Sebaldus Church from Heinrich Schwemmer, the cantor. Later, he received lessons from the organist, Georg Caspar Wecker. On June 29, 1669, Pachelbel entered the University of Altdorf. Despite his talents, due to monetary problems, he was unable to complete his education. Instead, he was appointed organist of St. Lorenz church. The next year, he joined the Gymnasium Poeticum at Regensburg as a scholar student. He received lessons from Kaspar Prentz and developed an interest in contemporary Italian music.

In 1673, he moved to Vienna as the deputy organist at the St. Stephan Cathedral. There, he learned about Italian Catholic music. In 1677, he moved to Eisenach as court organist. There, he became friends with Johann Ambrosius and he taught his children music. Next year, he became the organist at Predigerkirche. He became the godfather to Ambrosius’ daughter, Johanna Juditha. In addition, he also composed chorale preludes. He became one of the leading German organ composers of the time.

In 1686 he became the organist of the Trinitatis church in Sondershausen. On October 25, 1681, Pachelbel married Barbara Gabler. Together, the couple had a son. Unfortunately, both mother and son passed away during the 1683 October plague. The next year, on August 24, he married Judith Drommer. With her, Pachelbel had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Two of their sons became organ composers.

In 1695, Pachelbel moved to Nuremburg to be an organist of St. Sebaldus Church. There, he composed many different pieces and published his chamber music collection. In addition, he composed Concerto Vespers and more than ninety Magnificat Fugues. In Nuremburg, he died and was buried at St. Rochus Cemetery. During his lifetime, he composed about 100 fugues, 40 large scale works and several Chaconnes, Preludes, Arias, and other keyboard music. Much of his compositions were lost in the World Wars.

Lois Bonaparte
September 2, 1778- July 25, 1846
Louis Bonaparte was born in Agaccio, Corsica. His brother was Napoleon Bonaparte. He entered the military and with the help of his brother, became a lieutenant in the artillery. In 1796, he participated in the Italian campaign where he became a captain. In 1798, he and his brother went to Egypt. At the age of twenty five, Louis became a general. Despite all of these military accomplishments, Louis did not enjoy the life. He only rose in ranks due to his brother’s influence and in 1805, became the governor of Paris.

Josephine, Napoleon’s wife, had a daughter from her first marriage named Hortense de Beauharnais. Napoleon arranged a marriage between his step daughter and Louis. This marriage caused Louis to become jealous of his wife and he grew to resent his brother. In addition, there have been some speculation the Louis was suffering from a mental disorder and he was unsure about his sexual orientation. However, Louis did end up having three children with his wife.

On July 5, 1806, Napoleon made Louis the King of Holland with the intention that his brother would enforce French navigation laws on Dutch merchants who were secretly trading with Great Britain. However, Louis refused to act as such, and instead, chose to act in Holland’s best interests. He was skilled in bringing help to the city of Leiden after a ship explosion, however, his behaviour was erratic at times, which was reflected in the many different times he changed the capital city. Napoleon was unhappy with his brother’s decision to not have Holland join the Continental System. He eventually attacked the capital city, forcing Louis to flee. Holland was annexed to France on July 9, 1810.

Between 1811 and 1813, Louis found refuge in Austria, where he lived in Graz, writing and reading poetry. After Napoleon’s defeat, Louis requested to be given his former position, which he was denied. He settled in Rome instead.

Paul Kane
September 3, 1810- February 20, 1871
1) He and his friends insisted that Kane was born in Toronto, however various other sources have confirmed that he was actually born in Ireland and immigrated to York (Toronto’s old name) in 1819.
2) Kane took painting lessons from Thomas Drury, a local painter and the art teacher in Upper Canada College.
3) In November 1848, for two weeks, about 240 of Kane’s sketches were shown in an exhibition at the Toronto City Hall.

Albert De Salvo
September 3, 1931- November 25, 1973
1) Went to jail for 18 months for going to where females lived, pretending he was a model scout, and then measuring the flattered women.
2) Had an alcoholic father and a rough childhood, where he would often be jailed for petty crimes.
3) He was responsible for the Boston Strangler Case where between 1962 and 1964, he murdered 13 women. All of the women were strangled, and the majority of them were elderly.

Beyoncé Knowles
September 4, 1981- present
1) Was the lead vocalist of an R&B group, Destiny Child. Her father was the manager.
2) In 2008, she married rapper Jay-Z in a private ceremony in New York City.
3) She won six awards at the 2010 Grammy Awards.

Mickey Cohen
September 4, 1913- July 29, 1976
1) When he was a teenager, he was a professional boxer during the Great Depression. As another job on the side, he helped with the Mafiosi and Jewish Gang bosses.
2) Not only was he very well connected with many different people in mobsters, he was able to profit from the movie industry, not through acting or directing, but through blackmail. The dude was a professional wrestler.
3) Cohen was so well connected, that despite the fact he’s murdered a bunch of people and many other bad things, he was only convicted twice for income tax evasion.

Johann Cristian Bach
September 5, 1735- January 1, 1782
Johann Cristian Bach was the son of the famous Johann Sebastian Back, and his second wife, Anna Magdalena. He was the youngest son (out of the children that survived). When his father died in 1750, he moved to Berlin where he studied with his older half-brother, Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach who was a keyboardist for Frederick the Great. Carl helped his brother develop his clavier-playing skills, and how to compose. By the end of his stay in Berlin, Johann Cristian Bach was performing his own compositions.

In 1756, when he was 20 years old, he moved to Italy. There, he became a private performer for Count Litta, a Milanese nobleman. There, Bach was able to further his musical education under the guidance of his teacher, Padre Martini of Bologna.

In 1760, he converted to Catholictism. His family was Lutheran and due to the change, stopped speaking to him. However, due to his new faith, Bach was presented with new opportunities, the main being appointed organist of Cathedral of Milan. Due to the hours, he was able to work on various other projects, one of which was composing the Italian opera, Artaserse.

Bach moved to England in 1762 when he was offered the appointment of King’s Theatre in London. He was the theatre’s opera composer. His first opera that was performed, Orione, was a big success. Another opera, Zanaida was also successful and that lead him to be Queen Charlotte’s music master. Not only did Bach write operas, but he also wrote chamber music, orchestral music, and cantatas. He became one of the most popular composers in England in the 18th century.

Bach met eight year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart when Mozart was performing at the English Court. They became friends and later, Mozart would call Bach someone who influenced his music.

Later in life, Bach became less popular, earning less and mostly performing for free. He later became broke when his housekeeper left with all of his money. He died in debt and was buried in a mass grave at the St. Pancras churchyard in Somers Town, central London.

Freddie Mercury
September 5, 1946- November 24, 1991
1) His real name is Farrokh Bulsara and he was born in Zanzibar, Tanzania
2) He loved champagne and art. He once spent $40,000 on a set of hand-painted china
3) He died from AIDS-related bronchial pneumonia the day after he publicly stated that he had AIDS.
4) (Extra fun fact) In 2001, he and his band, “Queen”, made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Jesse James
September 5, 1847- April 3, 1882
1) Lead the James-Younger gang, a group of bank and train robbers.
2) Jesse was 16 years old when he and his brother, Frank, became Confederate guerilla soldiers. They did not have a happy relationship with the union soldiers. Not surprising as their family’s farm was brutally attacked by union soldiers.
3) The group stole an estimated $200,000 and murdered anyone who got in their way.

Louis XIV
September 5, 1638- September 1, 1715
1) He was christened Louis-Dieudonné, French for “Gift of God”.
2) On May 14, 1643, Louis’s father passed away so Louis became King at four and a half years old. (And I had just begun kindergarten at four…)
3) He fell in love with a girl named Marie Mancini, however he married Marie-Thérèse of Austria, the daughter of the king of Spain, instead to ensure peace.

Rose McGowan
September 5, 1973- present
Rose McGowan was born in Florence, Italy to American parents who were involved in a cult called Children of God, leading to an unusual childhood. She had five other siblings. When she was ten years old, her family moved to America where her parents divorced. She lived with her mother in Oregon and Washington until she was fifteen when she legally moved away and supported herself through odd jobs.

While she was in Italy, she had worked as a model and that was how she developed her interest in acting. In her later teenage years, she settled in Los Angeles and landed a role in Encino Man in 1992. A few years later, she acted in The Doom Generation. The movie was showcased in the Sundance Film Festival in 1995, where she captured the attention of many industry professionals.

In the 1990’s, McGowan rose in fame with roles in several different movies such as Jawbreaker, The Last Stop, and Dead Awake. She received more publicity when she dated Marilyn Manson from 1997-2001. From 2001-2006 she played Paige Matthews in the television series, Charmed. She was later fired after she refused to sign a two-year contract. In early 2007, she was injured in a car accident and had plastic surgery in her face.

Since then, she has been in several other movies and television series. She has also guest starred in the series Nip/Tuck and in the series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I recognized her for her role as young Cora, Regina’s mother in the show Once Upon a Time.

She has been nominated and won, several awards. On October 12, 2013, McGowan married Davey Detail in Los Angeles which is where she is currently living. In addition to acting, McGowan is also showing interest in directing. She is to be directing The Pines which is coming out in 2016.

Marquis de Lafayette
September 6, 1757- May 20, 1834
1) His nickname was “The Hero of Two Worlds”
2) His father was killed in the Seven Years War, his mother and grandmother died in 1770, leaving him with a large inheritance. So he married a 14 year old girl in 1773 named Marie.
3) In 1777, he left France and went to the United States where he became a major-general in the Continental Army.

Richard I
September 6, 1157- April 6, 1199
1) His nickname was “Richard the Lionheart”
2) He was the King of England from 1189-1199
3) At 16 years of age, he commanded his own army and revolted against his father. (And to think when I was 16, I just read a lot and surfed the internet.)
4) (Extra fun fact) I recognized him from “The Outlaws of Sherwood” by Robin McKinley

Queen Elizabeth I
September 7, 1533- March 24, 1603
Elizabeth I was born to King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her mother was beheaded when Elizabeth was two, on false accusations of adultery and conspiracy. Elizabeth and her older half-sister Mary were pronounced to be illegitimate. Later, they were reinstated as potential heirs. As a child, she was treated like any other royal child, and received many tutors. Elizabeth excelled at languages and music. Elizabeth had a brother named Edward but after his death in 1553, Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth’s cousin, received the crown for a total of nine days before being unseated by Mary.

Mary was a Roman Catholic and tried to get the country to support her faith. Although Elizabeth supported her sister, the people viewed her as a future Queen who would return the country back to the Protestant faith. Thomas Wyatt began a rebellion in an attempt to get Elizabeth on the throne. However, he was discovered and despite her assurances that she was not a part of it, Mary threw Elizabeth into prison. Elizabeth was soon released but Wyatt was executed.

After her sister’s death, Elizabeth became queen in 1558. The country was not doing very well at the time. It was at war with France, and tensions were high between religions after Mary’s attempts to restore the country to Roman Catholic. In 1559, Elizabeth re-established the Church of England and the Act of Uniformity, creating a common prayer book. In addition, she was able to end the war with France, with the help of her advisor, William Cecil.

Although sought after, with many suitors, Elizabeth rejected marriage. She had seen examples of troubled marriages within her family, such as the one between her parents and the one between her sister and her husband. In addition, she did not want to share her power with a spouse. It was in that way did she earn the name Virgin Queen.