Birth Locations – Page 57 – The Exasperated Historian

712) Guglielma of Milan

712: Guglielma of Milan

Preached a Feminized Version of Christianity

Born: c.1210 AD, Kingdom of Bohemia (Present-day Czech Republic) OR Holy Roman Empire (Present-day Italy)

Died: c. 1279 AD Milan, Holy Roman Empire (Present-day Milan, Italy)

Guglielma also predicted the end of time and her own resurrection as the Holy Spirit Incarnate which made her less than popular with the Catholic Church.

She may have been the daughter of the King of Bohemia in which case her name would have originally been Vilelmina. Unsurprisingly, records from the eleventh century are scarce enough on their own, and when you’re dealing with a person who was as unpopular with the church as Guglielma, documented sources tend to be a little…less than agreeable with each other in certain instances.

After her death, Guglielma’s grave became a shrine to her followers. Also, after her death, another woman named Manfreda was elected Popess and would perform mass over Guglielma’s grave.

The followers said Guglielma’s resurrection would lead to a new church led by women.

And unsurprisingly again, all of this attracted the Inquisition. Thirty of Guglielma’s followers were charged with heresy and Guglielma was posthumously condemned. Her bones were dug up and burned alongside three followers including Manfreda.

Despite their best efforts, Guglielma's followers continued to practice, and were recorded existing still in the mid 1400's.

Sources:

https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/guglielma-milan-d-1282

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/guillemine

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

711) Judith Barsi

“I’m afraid to go home. My daddy is miserable. My daddy is drunk every day, and I know he wants to kill my mother."

711: Judith Barsi

Child Actress Who was Tragically Murdered by Her Father

Born: 6 June 1978, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Died: 25 July 1988, Canoga Park, California, United States of America

When she was five, Judith was spotted at an ice-skating rink and started acting in commercials. Since she was short, she was often cast playing girls younger than she actually was and was receiving hormone injections at the time of her death to help her grow. Judith only stood three feet eight inches tall despite being ten years old.

Judith made over seventy commercials and by the time she entered fourth grade it was estimated she was earning $100,000 a year.

She is most remembered by children for voicing Ducky in The Land Before Time and Anne-Marie in All Dogs Go to Heaven.

In 1986, Judith’s mother reported her husband and Judith’s father to police for his abuse but declined to press charges; so the police had no choice but to drop the case.

While filming Jaws: The Revenge, Judith’s agent noticed her erratic behavior and encouraged Judith’s mother to take her to a psychologist who diagnosed severe emotional trauma. Judith was plucking out her own eyebrows and her cats’ whiskers among other issues. Children’s Protective Services got involved but dropped their case after Judith’s mother said she would file for divorce from her husband.

It is believed Judith’s father shot Judith while she was sleeping and then he also shot Judith’s mother. Two days later, he lit the house on fire and shot himself in the garage, alerting the world to the terrible crime that had taken place in the home. Seven years later, Judith’s half-brother, who had become an alcoholic following his family’s deaths, committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge in Scottsdale, Arizona.

For years Judith and her mother had unmarked graves but in 2004 her fans got together and bought headstones for them.

Judith had five cats and spoke fluent Hungarian thanks to her parents both being Hungarian immigrants. After her death, her friends took in her cats to take care of them, and all of Judith's undamaged toys were donated to the local Goodwill.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0058279/bio

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-08-07-me-382-story.html

https://landbeforetime.fandom.com/wiki/Judith_Barsi

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3038/judith-eva-barsi

710) Tina Turner

710: Tina Turner

Singer and Dancer

Born: 26 November 1939, Nutbush, Tennessee, United States of America

Died: 24 May 2023, Küsnacht, Switzerland

Original Name: Anna Mae Bullock

Tina was born into a sharecropping family in rural Tennessee and began singing as a teenager.

In 1956, she became a part of future husband Ike Turner’s band in St. Louis. They married in 1962 as their media stardom shot upwards making them instantly famous.

In 1978, Tina filed for divorce citing physical abuse and infidelity.

Tina went on to earn multiple Grammy Awards for her first solo-album ensuring she definitely did not need any man. Her star continued to rise with her appearance in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Her autobiography later became the movie What’s Love Got to Do With It starring Angela Bassett as Tina.

In 1991, Ike and Tina were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

According to the New York Times, "After her “Twenty Four Seven” tour in 2000 sold more than $100 million in tickets, Guinness World Records announced that she had sold more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history."

Tina became a Swiss Citizen in 2013 and submitted paperwork to relinquish her US citizenship. She had four sons, two biological and two stepsons from Ike. Her two biological sons died in 2018 and 2022.

Tina was survived by her stepsons and her second husband, Erwin Bach, a music producer.

Badges Earned:

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Sources:

https://www.biography.com/musician/tina-turner

https://wdet.org/posts/2019/12/30/89005-at-80-tina-turner-finally-puts-her-feet-up/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/arts/music/tina-turner-dead.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/254250578/tina-turner

709) Famke Janssen

709: Famke Janssen

Actress, Screenwriter, Director, and Former Fashion Model

Born: 5 November 1964, Amstelveen, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands

Famke is a frequent outspoken critic of the sexism in Hollywood--especially hitting on the X-Men franchise where the same male actors were used in the new series as the old (like Wolverine star Hugh Jackman) but the female characters, like hers (Phoenix), were recast.

She served as a UN Goodwill ambassador for Integrity and a water ambassador for Green Cross International.

A trivia fact about Famke would be that she did the Dutch voiceover work for Disneyland Parks. That’s right, every time you hear instructions in Dutch on the studio tram tour, you are hearing Famke’s voice.

She speaks Dutch, English, French, and German.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000463/bio

https://www.tvovermind.com/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-famke-janssen/

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

708) Neerja Bhanot

708: Neerja Bhanot

Airline Stewardess and Model

Born: 7 September 1963, Chandigarh Territory, India

Died: 5 September 1986, Karachi, Pakistan

Neerja saved Hundreds of Passengers when terrorists hijacked her flight, Pan Am Flight 73.

As head flight attendant, Neerja got the cockpit crew off the plane by warning them of the hijacking which prevented the plane from being able to leave the runway.

The hijackers demanded Neerja and the other stewardesses gather up all the American passports and hand them over so they would be able to identify the American passengers. Neerja instead instructed her attendants to hide the passports under seats and in a trash chute and managed to delay any violence for seventeen hours.

359 passengers escaped and only 20 died thanks to Neerja’s bravery. She helped the passengers escape by opening an emergency exit door and Neerja herself died while shielding three children from getting shot.

Neerja is the youngest recipient of India’s highest civilian bravery award during peacetime, the Ashoka Chakra, which she was given posthumously. In 2004, the Indian Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor, and in 2006 she was awarded the Special Courage Award from the US Department of Justice.

In 2016, a biography film about Neerja’s life was released, entitled simply Neerja. I have linked the trailer to it in this article. When the actress who portrayed Neerja met Neerja’s mother, Neerja’s mom told her she wasn’t as pretty as her daughter, but Sonam wasn’t offended. On Neerja’s birthday anniversary in 2019, Sonam called her a “true icon” and celebrated her life on social media.

Badges Earned:

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Rejected Princess

Located In My Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

Sources:

https://www.panam.org/global-era/591-neerja-bhanot-2

https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/sonam-kapoor-remembers-neerja-bhanot-on-her-death-anniversary-1596270-2019-09-06

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5286444/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138698309/neerja-bhanot

707) Bertha Parker Pallan Cody

707: Bertha Parker Pallan Cody

The First Female Native American Archaeologist

Born: 30 August 1907, Chautauqua County, New York, United States of America

Died: 8 October 1978, Los Angeles, United States of America

Also Known As: Birdie

Bertha was descended from the Seneca tribe through her father and also had Abenaki blood thanks to her mother.

She may have worked with Ringling Brothers as part of the Pocahontas Show when she was younger but that isn’t a confirmed fact.

Bertha learned the field of archaeology after being hired by her uncle to work as a cook on his various digs. She went on to excavate at Gypsum Cave and several ancestral Pueblo sites. Bertha found a skull belonging to an extinct sloth and ancient human tools at her dig sites, including one she named Scorpion Hill.

Bertha was married to Iron Eyes Cody (her third husband actually—he was an Italian actor whose real name was Espera "Oscar" de Corti) and worked with her husband as a technical advisor on films when Native American matters arose.

Bertha also worked for the Southwest Museum for ten years as an Assistant in Archaeology.

Her headstone reads “Mrs. Iron Eyes Cody” which is just another example of how Bertha has been remembered her whole life as related to various men but not for her own achievements.

Badges Earned:

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Sources:

https://www.si.edu/object/siris_arc_306365

https://woc.aises.org/content/bertha-parker-pallan-cody-taking-scientific-approach-ancestral-record

http://www.route66women.com/portfolio/bertha-parker-pallan-cody/

https://trowelblazers.com/bertha-birdie-parker-also-known-as/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6581062/bertha-alden-cody

706) Yeardley Love

706: Yeardley Love

Lacrosse Player & Beloved Daughter and Sister

Born: 17 July 1987, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Died: 3 May 2010, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

Yeardley is sadly remembered for being beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend three weeks before their graduation from the University of Virginia. The University posthumously awarded Yeardley her degree. They also retired her jersey number from the university’s lacrosse team in her honor.

Yeardley had promised her father to play lacrosse at University of Virginia before he died from cancer in 2003—a dream she achieved. She was majoring in government and minoring in Spanish and was a Sorority member.

Yeardley was planning on moving to New York City for her first job after graduation.

Yeardley’s mother and sister founded the One Love Foundation to help spread awareness and prevent further domestic abuse.

Yeardley’s murderer was found guilty and sentenced to twenty-three years in prison. He is set to be released in 2030. Yeardley's family went on to sue both her murderer and the university in civil suits, but later dropped both cases.

Badges Earned:

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Sources:

https://www.joinonelove.org/about-yeardley/

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/university-virginia-yeardley-love-murdered-story-photos-gallery-1.15132

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

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51970692/yeardley-reynolds-love

705: Selma Lagerlöf

Teacher and Author

Born: 20 November 1858, Östra Emterwik, Sweden

Died: 16 March 1940, Mårbacka, Sweden

Selma was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. She was also the first Swedish person to win the Nobel.

She started writing poetry as a child, but didn’t publish until later in life, when she began to be awarded literary prizes for her work.

By 1895, Selma was given so much financial backing she was able to quit teaching and work full time as a writer. Her later works didn’t match the success of her earlier ones, but Selma is remembered as one of the finest Swedish novelists of the nineteenth century.

She used her Nobel Prize earnings to buy back her family’s estate that had been sold after her father’s death.

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

Sources:

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1909/lagerlof/biographical/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Selma-Lagerlof

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7343194/selma-ottilia_lovisa-lagerl_f

704) Constance Kent

704: Constance Kent

Murderess Who Brought Priest/Penitent Privilege to the Forefront

Born: 6 February 1844, Rowde, (Also spelled Road or Rode), Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Died: 10 April 1944, Mittagong, New South Wales, Australia

Also Known As: Ruth Emilie Kaye

Constance murdered her four-year-old half-brother when she was sixteen. She was arrested immediately after the crime but was released.

Five years later, Constance stood trial after confessing to a clergyman for the Church of England who encouraged her to go to the police and absolve herself. Because of this, Parliament was forced to raise questions about Confessional Privilege. Constance's case would reaffirm that Confessional Privilege is not protected by English law the way it is in the United States.

It is said Constance killed her little brother because her stepmother had treated her biological mother badly (in fact her stepmom had started having an affair with her dad while Constance’s mother was dying).

Constance was originally sentenced to death, which was then commuted to life, and then she was released after twenty years when she was forty-one.

Some people believe Constance’s father killed his son and framed his daughter for it.

While in prison, Constance created mosaics for several of the nearby churches. After her release she moved to Australia and changed her name; working as a nurse at various hospitals.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://murderpedia.org/female.K/k/kent-constance.htm

http://www.historybytheyard.co.uk/road_hill_house.htm

https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/kaye_ruth_emilie

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65158658/constance-emily-kent

703) Dorothy Kamenshek

703: Dorothy Kamenshek

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Player

Born: 21 December 1925, Norwood, Ohio, United States of America

Died: 17 May 2010, Palm Desert, California, United States of America

Also Known As: Dottie or Kammie

Dottie played softball around town as a kid and was spotted by the AAGPBL at the age of seventeen. She played for the Rockford Peaches from 1943 to 1951 and then a final season in 1953. She is widely seen as one of the inspirations for Geena Davis’s character Dottie in A League of Their Own.

In 1950, a men’s team from the Florida International Baseball League attempted to recruit her but Dottie turned it down thinking it was a publicity stunt.

While with the girls’ league she was struck out only 81 out of 3,736 times!

Dottie worked as a physical therapist and then worked for the Los Angeles Crippled Children’s Service Department after leaving baseball.

The AAGPBL has been immortalized in the aforementioned film A League of Their Own. For those who haven’t seen the film, the AAGPBL was an all girls’ baseball league originally organized to replace men’s baseball during World War II. Because the majority of the male players had been drafted, baseball teams across the country couldn't play, and it was feared the baseball fields themselves would shutter and close. Philip K Wrigley, of Wrigley's Chewing Gum fame, formed a committee to find a solution to the problem. The AAGPBL was formed as a result.

Badges Earned:

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Sources:

https://www.aagpbl.org/profiles/dorothy-kamenshek-kammie/67

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/sports/baseball/22kamenshek.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dorothy-Kamenshek

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52697595/dorothy-kamenshek