REMEMBERING
May 6 birthdays
1856 ROBERT PEARY American explorer
Peary led an expedition that claimed to be the first to reach the geographic North Pole, in April 1909. Explorer Matthew Henson, part of the expedition, is thought to have reached what they believed to be the North Pole narrowly before.
1856 SIGMUND FREUD Austrian neurologist
Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies in the psyche through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud’s books were among those burned by the Nazis.
1895 RUDOLPH VALENTINO Italian actor
Known in Hollywood as the Latin Lover, Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s. He starred in well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik.
1915 ORSON WELLES American actor
Welles rocketed to notoriety in 1938 when his narration of a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds caused some listeners to believe an alien invasion was happening. His film debut came in the all-time classic Citizen Kane.
1937 RUBIN CARTER American boxer
Carter was a middleweight boxer who was wrongfully convicted of a triple homicide. A retrial in 1976 was upheld, but it was overturned in 1985. Carter was released from prison after serving almost 20 years.
1953 TONY BLAIR British Prime Minister
Blair served as prime minister from 1997 until 2007. He is one of only two Labour Party leaders in history to form three majority governments, the other being Harold Wilson. In June 2007, Blair resigned and handed the reins to Gordon Brown.
1961 GEORGE CLOONEY American actor
Clooney has won a BAFTA, four Golden Globes and two Academy Awards, one as an actor and the other as a producer. He gained wide recognition in the TV series ER before his move into films.