Birth Locations – Page 111 – The Exasperated Historian

183) Julie d’Aubigny

283: Julie d’Aubigny

Opera Singer and Swordswoman

Born: 1670, Paris, France

Died: 1707, Provence, France

Also Known As: La Maupin

Julie ran away from her life (literally) after being forced into a marriage by her father and decided to wander the French countryside looking for trouble instead.

She started dressing in men’s clothing and performing by singing and swinging her sword all in one show.

After growing tired of men, Julie seduced a local merchant’s daughter and after the merchant put his daughter in a convent Julie broke her out (but the relationship didn’t last).

She twice had to be pardoned by the King of France for her shenanigans.

Julie spent the last five or six years of her life in obscurity back with her husband before dying of unknown causes.

Badges Earned:

Rejected Princess

Located In My Personal Library:

Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

Sources:

https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/julie-daubigny

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_d%27Aubigny

282) Cherilyn Sarkisian

282: Cherilyn Sarkisian

But You Know Her as Cher

Born: 20 May 1946, El Centro, California, United States of America

Singer and actress who is remembered for her songs like Believe and If I Could Turn Back Time and for her film roles in Moonstruck, Burlesque, and most recently, Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again.

Cher has been called the Goddess of Pop.

Cher came to national attention with then-husband Sonny Bono on the variety show The Sonny and Cher Show.

She has two sons and remains very active on Twitter. Cher is also gearing up to go on a world tour promoting her new Mamma Mia inspired ABBA cover album, Dancing Queen. The Cher Show, a Broadway play about her life, wrapped up in August of 2019.

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cher

281) SSGT Mariya Oktyabrskaya

281: Mariya Oktyabrskaya

Soviet Tank Driver During World War II

Born: 16 August 1905, Crimean Peninsula

Died: 15 March 1944, Smolensk, USSR (Present-day Smolensk, Russia)

Mariya was the first female tank driver to be awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union accolade—the highest honor bestowed for bravery during combat.

She was a Sergeant in the Soviet Military and her tank was named Fighting Girlfriend.

Mariya’s husband was killed in action early on in the war—so she did the natural thing any widow would—sold all their belongings and used the funds to build a tank; writing to Stalin and requesting that she be allowed to pilot said tank to take “revenge on the Fascist Dogs for [my husband’s] death.”

In her first battle she killed thirty Germans and took out an anti-tank gun. When Fighting Girlfriend was immobilized in the fight she got out and repaired her while under heavy fire then got back in and killed more enemies.

Mariya was killed by a mortar round later on in the war after leaving the safety of her tank to repair her once again.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Rejected Princess

Located In My Personal Library:

Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

Sources:

https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/mariya-oktyabrskaya

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/175865572/mariya-vasilyevna-oktyabrskaya

280) Adrienne de Noailles Lafayette

280: Adrienne de Noailles La Fayette

La Fayette’s Wife (the famous Revolutionary War one—yes)

Born: 2 November 1759, Paris, France

Died: 24 December 1807, Auvergne, France

Original Name: Marie Adrienne de Noailles

She was the Marquise de La Fayette.

Adrienne and Gilbert married when she was fourteen and he was sixteen.

Together they purchased two South American plantations for the express purpose of freeing the slaves working them. They then distributed the land amongst the newly freed slaves.

Gilbert left the entire experiment up to Adrienne and she excelled at projects like that. Adrienne made sure the former slaves were educated in reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion.

In 1792 she was arrested during the French Revolution because she was a member of the aristocracy.

In 1794, Adrienne was given the death penalty—her grandmother, mother, sister, and several other relatives died on the guillotine. Adrienne’s execution was delayed on the grounds that she was married to La Fayette and—as Gouverneur Morris (the American minister plenipotentiary to France) pointed out—it would probably piss off the Americans.

Adrienne was released from French prison in 1795 and traveled to Austria with her and Gilbert’s daughters—staying in prison with her husband who was being held there as a Revolutionary. Their sixteen-year-old son George Washington (Yes really that was his name) was sent to America to keep him safe.

Two years later, in 1797, they were all released.

After returning to France she arranged the purchase of the mass burial ground where the victims of the guillotine were buried and founded her own cemetery there.

Adrienne died soon after and for the rest of his life Gilbert slept with her miniature under his pillow and needed fifteen minutes alone with it every morning.

In 2009, the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a memorial plaque over Adrienne’s grave to commemorate the 250^th Anniversary of her birth.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts

Jefferson's Daughters: Three Sisters, White & Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison

Sources:

https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lafayette-marie-adrienne-de-1760-1807

https://friendsoflafayette.wildapricot.org/Adrienne

https://stewross.com/adrienne-de-noailles/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12132100/adrienne-de_noailles

279) Janis Joplin

279: Janis Joplin

Musician and Member of the Twenty-Seven Club

Born: 19 January 1943, Port Arthur, Texas, United States of America

Died: 4 October 1970, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Before going solo, Janis was a part of the bands Kosmic Blues Band and Big Brother & the Holding Company.

Janis performed solo at the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival—launching her to stardom.

Janis died of an apparent alcohol/heroin overdose a year later, at the age of twenty-seven. Sadly, she died at a time where she had seemingly started to put her life together, recording a new album and she was engaged to be married.

The album, Pearl, was released Posthumously, and her single Me and Bobby McGee was extremely successful, to say the least.

In 1995 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2005 she was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

In Praise of Difficult Women by Karen Karbo

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History Edited By Bonnie G Smith

The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

Sources:

https://janisjoplin.com/about

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Janis-Joplin

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/555/janis-joplin

278) Aretha Franklin

278: Aretha Franklin

Musician Remembered for Her Soulful Voice

Born: 25 March 1942, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America

Died: 16 August 2018, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America

Aretha received eighteen Grammy awards in her lifetime and was the first woman ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Arguably her most famous song Respect is actually a cover.

She made her first album when she was fourteen years old.

Aretha performed at the inaugurations of both United States Presidents Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W Bush.

She was a mother of four and died from pancreatic cancer.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

Time Magazine's 100 Women of the Year (Aretha appears in the 1968 article, "Aretha Franklin”)

Sources:

https://www.arethafranklin.net/biography/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192285104/aretha-franklin

277) Rebecca Nurse

277: Rebecca Nurse

Salem Witch

Born: 21 February 1621, Norfolk, England (Present-day United Kingdom)

Died: 19 July 1692, Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Present-day Massachusetts, United States of America)

Rebecca was hanged at seventy-one years of age despite being a fervent churchgoer and grandmother.

According to sources she was known for her piety but also occasionally lost her temper. Most believe Rebecca was accused by the Putnam family because of a longstanding boundary dispute over land between the two families.

At first, Rebecca was found not guilty, and thirty-nine of her fellow townsfolk had risked their lives by signing a letter in support of her. However, when the not guilty verdict was read in court, the afflicted girls began having fits. Rebecca was questioned over this new development, but she failed to respond (possibly because of her partial deafness) and the jury was led out of the room to reconsider. They returned with a guilty verdict. She was hanged only days later.

Two of her sisters were also arrested during the trials after defending Rebecca (one was also hanged, and one was released). Also going against the three sisters was the fact that their mother had been suspected of being a witch.

After her death, local legend states her family secretly removed her body from the shallow mass grave and buried her on their family property.

In 1711, her family received £25 in restitution for her wrongful conviction that led to her death. In 1909, her home was opened as a museum, and remains open to this day.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

"Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem Massachusetts," by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Six Women of Salem by Marilynne Roach

Sources:

https://www.thoughtco.com/rebecca-nurse-biography-3530327

https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-trial-of-rebecca-nurse/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5872/rebecca-nurse

276) Abigail Dane Faulkner Sr

276: Abigail Dane Faulkner Sr

Salem Witch

Born: 13 October 1652, Andover, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Present-day Massachusetts, United States of America)

Died: 5 February 1730, Andover, Massachusetts Bay Colony (Present-day Massachusetts, United States of America)

Abigail escaped hanging because she was pregnant at the time of the trials.

Abigail and her husband Francis were quite wealthy, thanks to the nice estate Francis received when his father died. Some have speculated the money was why Abigail and her family were targeted during the trials. Her husband became mentally ill early into their marriage, leaving Abigail in charge of the money and land.

Not only was Abigail envied for her money and land, but her father, who happened to be a reverend, was also an outspoken critic of witch trials in general, but especially those in Salem.

Her young daughters, niece, nephew, and sister were also arrested and accused. Her son may have been arrested, but the evidence for that varies on who you look to.

In 1703, Abigail petitioned the court to be exonerated on the charges she’d been found guilty of. However, in 1709 she had to ask again because the exoneration had never been completed. Finally, in 1711 the court exonerated everyone who had been found guilty at the trials.

Despite her family being so widespread throughout the aspects of the trial, Abigail and the rest of the Dane/Faulkner Family are not characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Her grandson went on to fight in the American Revolution, fighting at the Battle of Concord and then later heading up a regiment that would guard the prisoner of war General John Burgoyne.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.geni.com/people/Abigail-Faulkner-Dane-Salem-Witch/6000000006444278733

https://www.thoughtco.com/abigail-dane-faulkner-3528108

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14242621/abigail-faulkner

275) Joan Rivers

275: Joan Rivers

Comedian, Author, and Talk Show Host

Born: 8 June 1933, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America

Died: 4 September 2014, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Original Name: Joan Molinsky

Joan is remembered for her sharp humor and quick wit.

In her career, she is most remembered for hosting Fashion Police, a talk show that critiqued Hollywood’s choice of clothing.

Joan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Anthropology in 1954.

She started her career on television as a frequent guest on the Tonight Show in the 1960’s.

Joan wrote and directed the film The Rabbit Test starring Billy Crystal.

She also had her own talk show on Fox that ran as a direct competitor to Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show—leading Carson to never speak to Joan again even though her show was canceled after one season.

Joan’s daughter Melissa continues Joan’s legacy, and is a star in her own right.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/performer/joan-rivers

http://www.joanrivers.com/all-about-joan/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135411896/joan-rivers

274) Jayne Mansfield

274: Jayne Mansfield

Model and Actress

Born: 19 April 1933, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Died: 29 June 1967, Just Outside New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America

Original Name: Vera Jane Palmer

Jayne’s first film role was in 1954 and in 1955 she became Playboy’s Playmate of the Month for February.

She was quickly typecast as a sex kitten in various film roles and even turned down the role of Ginger in Gilligan’s Island because it would continue to stereotype her.

Jayne had five children between her three husbands—one of whom is actress Mariska Hargitay.

Jayne was killed in a car accident with several of her children, including Mariska, in the backseat though the children were unharmed in the crash.

Jayne’s death led to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mandating all semi-truck trailers be equipped with a DOT Bar/Under-ride Bar or Mansfield bar—a bar that hangs from the back of a semi-trailer to stop cars from rolling underneath the back of the trailer (which is how Jayne died).

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

The Encyclopedia of Ugly Fashion: A Hilarious Introspective of History’s Best Worst Fashion Trends by Karolina Żebrowska

The Hollywood Book of Death by James Robert Parish

The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson

Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die? by Tod Benoit

Sex With Presidents: The Ins and Outs of Love and Lust in the White House by Eleanor Herman

Sources:

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/stories/jayne-mansfield-bar

https://www.jaynemansfield.com/biography/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/665/jayne-mansfield