Portal:Philadelphia/Selected biography archive/2006
2006[edit]
- December
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, and humanitarian. He also was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. Later in life, he became a professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Despite having a wide influence on the development of American government, he is not as widely known as many of his American contemporaries. Rush was also an early opponent of slavery and capital punishment.
- November
Gladys Bentley was a famous African American blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Bentley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was the daughter of American George L. Bentley and his wife, a Trinidadian, Mary Mote. In New York City, she appeared at Harry Hansberry's "Clam House" on 133rd Street, and headlined in the early thirties at Harlem's Ubangi Club. A lesbian, her performances had her dressed in men's clothes and piano playing while singing her own obscene lyrics to popular tunes of the day.
- October
Franklin B. Gowen served as president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (also known by the abbreviated name, the Reading Railroad) in the 1870s. During his tenure, he was the special prosecutor in the trial to break up the Molly Maguires, a secret organization of Irish Catholic mine workers known for their acts of violence against the mine owners; the controversial trial resulted in the executions of nearly 20 members of the organization and the organization's official dissolution. Franklin Gowen studied law and was elected District Attorney for Schuylkill County in 1862. In the 1870s, as president of the Reading Railroad, he became the wealthiest anthracite coal mine owner in the world. Throughout his time with the railroad and afterward, he continued practicing law and trying cases. Gowen died of a gunshot wound on December 13, 1889, at Wormly's Hotel in Washington, DC, but there is still a question as to whether his death was suicide or the result of a revenge killing by former members of the Molly Maguires.
- September
Michael A. Nutter is a Democratic politician and former councilman of the 4th Council District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which includes the neighborhoods of Wynnefield, Overbrook, Roxborough, Manayunk, East Falls and parts of North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and West Mount Airy. On June 27, 2006, Nutter announced his resignation from the city council to run for mayor.
- August
John Wanamaker was a United States businessman, civic and political figure, considered the father of the department store and the father of modern advertising. Wanamaker was born in 1838 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He founded the Wanamaker's department store, which is one of the first, if not the first, department store in the United States. At Wanamaker's death in 1922, his estate was estimated to be US$100 million.
- July
Grace, Princess of Monaco was an Academy Award-winning American film actress who, as a result of marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco on April 19, 1956, became Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco. She was the mother of the principality's current reigning Sovereign Prince, Albert II of Monaco. Princess Grace was required to renounce her American citizenship upon her marriage. Grace Kelly was born in 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- June
Hall & Oates is the popular music duo made up of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The act achieved its greatest fame in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, and used a unique variety of ballad-oriented pop-blue-eyed soul (occasionally mixed with dance and rock influences) to dominate the charts. The partnership is the most successful chart duo in the history of American recorded music.
They are best known for hits like "Sara Smile", "Out of Touch," "Private Eyes," "Maneater," "Rich Girl," "She's Gone," "Kiss On My List," "Say It Isn't So" and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)."
- May
Benjamin Franklin: scientist, inventor and statesman who played an important political role in the United States during the late eighteenth century.
- April
Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook April 24, 1954), a journalist and political activist, was convicted of the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner, which took place on December 9, 1981, and was sentenced to death. He has become a cause célèbre for many opponents of the death penalty and thus a focus of attention of many of the death penalty's supporters.
- March
Stephen Girard (May 20, 1750–December 26, 1831) was an American philanthropist and banker.
He was born in Bordeaux, France, and became a sailor at the age of 13. By 1773 he was master and captain of a vessel operating between New York, New Orleans, and the West Indies. In 1777, as a result of British blockades of seaports during the American Revolutionary War, he engaged in a mercantile career in Philadelphia. From 1780 to 1790 he resumed maritime trade with the West Indies, in partnership with his brother John. He developed a large fleet of vessels that engaged in worldwide trade. His efficient business practices enabled him to rapidly build a sizeable fortune.