Died On This Date: Mar 12

Frank, Anne (Annaliese) Marie
b. June 12, 1929 d. March 12, 1945
Holocaust Diarist. Born and raised in Germany and Amsterdam, she would become a celebrity after her death. In 1942 at the age of 13 and during World War II she was given a diary to write in by her father Otto. That same year they were forced into hiding to escape Adolf Hitler's persecution of the Jews. With a dentist and another family (a total of 15 people), they hid behind a wall in the building where her father worked. During this time Anne would write in her diary.

Westinghouse, George
b. October 6, 1846 d. March 12, 1914
Businessman, Inventor. He is best known as the inventor of the Westinghouse railway air brake and founder of the Westinghouse Electric Company. He was born George Westinghouse on October 6, 1846, in Central Bridge, NY, the son of a farm machinery manufacturer. After several years working in his father’s Schenectady shops, he joined the Union Army for 2 years during the Civil War before becoming an engineer in the Navy in 1864.

Parker, Charlie 'Bird'
b. August 29, 1920 d. March 12, 1955Jazz Musician. Regarded by many as the most influential figure in modern jazz, he began his career playing alto saxophone (as well as clarinet, which he disliked intensely and would not continue with after he became prominent) for various bands in his native Kansas City territory during the late 1930s and early 1940s, most notably the group led by pianist Jay McShann.

Hutton, Betty
b. February 26, 1921 d. March 12, 2007
Actress, Singer. Born Elizabeth June Thornburg and raised by a single mother, Hutton (along with her sister, Marion Hutton) started singing in the family's speakeasy at age 3. Related troubles with the police kept the family on the move, and eventually they moved to Detroit. When interviewed as an established star appearing at the premiere of Let's Dance (1950), her mother (arriving with her, and following a police escort) commented "This time the police were in front of us."

Ormandy, Eugene
b. November 18, 1899 d. March 12, 1985
Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra for 44 years.

LeVert, Octavia Celeste
b. August 11, 1811 d. March 12, 1877
Noted 19th Century Author. She was the first Alabama writer to achieve national acclaim.

Hayes, Woody (Wayne)
b. February 4, 1913 d. March 12, 1987
College Football Coach. After earning a degree in English from Denison University in 1935, he embarked on a coaching career rivaled by few in the field. After briefly coaching high school football in Ohio and Pennsylvania, he served in the military during World War II, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. Following his military service, Hayes returned to Denison as head football coach for three years, followed by a two-year tenure at "the cradle of coaches".

Frisch, Frankie
b. September 9, 1898 d. March 12, 1973
Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Player.

Ludlum, Robert
b. May 25, 1927 d. March 12, 2001
Writer, Novelist. Robert Ludlum was born in New York City. His father, George, was a businessman and died in 1934 when Robert was 7 years old. Ludlum spent his childhood in New Jersey and was educated privately and at Chesire Academy, CT. Ludlum began appearing in school theatre productions and then performed in the comedy; "Junior Miss" on Broadway when he was just 16 years old. During the Second World War, Ludlum tried to join the RCAF in Canada, but was refused and subsequently enlisted.

Hull, Josephine
b. January 3, 1886 d. March 12, 1957
Actress. Born Josephine Sherwood in Newtonville, Massachusetts, she attended the New England Conservatory of Music followed by Radcliffe College, where she majored in drama. She joined a Boston stock theatre company where she met and married fellow actor, Shelley Hull, in 1910. Widowed after less than ten years, she returned to the theatre under her late husband's name, making a splash on Broadway in George Kelly's Pulitzer-winning ‘Craig's Wife' in 1926.

Tilden, Charles William
b. May 7, 1832 d. March 12, 1914
Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. He served during the Civil War first as a Captain in the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry, then as Colonel and commander of the 16th Maine Volunteer Infantry. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "faithful and meritorious services during the war".

Webster, Gen. Joseph Dana
b. August 25, 1811 d. March 12, 1876
Civil War Union Brevet Major General. He served through the Mexican War as a Union Captain of engineers, resigned in 1854 and removed to Chicago, where he engaged in business. At the opening of the Civil War, he took charge of the construction of fortifications at Cairo, Illinois and Paducah, Kentucky. In 1862, he became Colonel of the 1st Illinois artillery, was present at the capture of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and at Shiloh as General Grants chief of staff.

Strother, David
b. August 18, 1843 d. March 12, 1905
First black man to vote in an election in the United States.