Birth Locations – Page 69 – The Exasperated Historian

595) Linnda Caporael

“It was that word ‘hallucinations’ that made everything click. Years and years ago, when I was a little kid, I had read about the French case of ergot poisoning, and I made the connection between the two.”

595: Linnda Caporael

She Proposed Ergot Poisoning Led to the Salem Witch Trials

Birth Date and Location Unknown

Linnda is a professor at the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Her thesis on Ergot Poisoning came out when she was still a graduate student and brought her worldwide fame and even a front-page article in the New York Times.

Linnda’s proposal was that the symptomatic girls in Salem Village were suffering from hallucinations and muscle spasms as a result of getting Ergot Poisoning. Ergot is a mold found on the rye crop Salem residents would have eaten at the time of the trials.

In 2000, Linnda appeared on an episode of Secrets of the Dead.

Sources:

http://www.physics.smu.edu/scalise/P3333sp08/Ulcers/ergotism.html

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/witches-curse-interview/1502/

594) Janet Jackson

594: Janet Jackson

Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Dancer, and Choreographer

Born: 16 May 1966, Gary, Indiana, United States of America

Janet is the youngest child of the Jackson family which includes Michael and La Toya (ten children total).

Her biggest song in terms of staying power in pop culture is arguably Rhythm Nation, but Janet is known for a multitude of songs and dances. She has also acted in different projects like Fame and Diff’rent Strokes.

Janet has sold over 100 Million Records worldwide and holds the record for the most consecutive top-ten entries into the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart by a female artist with 18 songs.

Janet gave birth to her first child at the age of fifty in 2017. She has been married three times.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001390/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

https://www.biography.com/musician/janet-jackson

593) La Toya Jackson

593: La Toya Jackson

Singer, Songwriter, Television Personality, Actress, and Businesswoman

Born: 29 May 1956, Gary, Indiana, United States of America

La Toya is the fifth child of the famed Jackson Family which includes Michael and Janet.

La Toya released numerous albums through the 1980’s and 1990’s, and even appeared in a 1989 spread in Playboy magazine. However, she had failed to achieve a single hit song in the Billboard Top 40 (US) by 1991, despite releasing six albums.

After her music career in the 1990’s dwindled because of a very strange marriage, La Toya began speaking out against various members of her family. In 1993, she came forward to declare her brother Michael was a pedophile. In 1991, she had published a tell all memoir in which she also claimed her parents had been extremely abusive; and in that same decade La Toya also launched a 900 number. Anyone could call the number and hear various claims against members of her family. La Toya would claim and then retract various stories about her family over the years, making most take her stories with a grain of salt. It should also be noted that after her divorce in 1997, La Toya stated she was forced to make those claims about Michael, appear in Playboy, and write her first book by her abusive husband. In 1993, her ex hit La Toya with a chair, but she declined to press charges.

La Toya appeared on the fourth season of the Celebrity Apprentice in 2011 and then had her own reality TV show on the Oprah Winfrey network for two seasons. She also wrote a second memoir, in which she retracted or changed a lot of the details from the first, written twenty years previously.

Most recently, La Toya appeared as the Alien on Season One of the Masked Singer in 2019.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0413765/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

https://jezebel.com/was-la-toya-jackson-right-about-her-family-all-along-1833194933

592) Iris Burton

“I hate to say it, but kids are pieces of meat. I’ve never had anything but filet mignon. I’ve never had hamburger. My kids are the choice meat.”

592: Iris Burton

Talent Agent for Child Stars

Born: 4 September 1930, Manhattan, New York, United States of America

Died: 5 April 2008, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

Original Name: Iris Burstein

Iris’s clients included River Phoenix and his siblings, the Olsen Twins (Mary-Kate and Ashley) Drew Barrymore, and more.

Iris started her career as a child dancer before moving to Broadway and later as a dancer in Hollywood films. Among the movies she appeared in were The Ten Commandments and Top Banana. After her dancing projects started to wane, she switched to working at a talent agency before later opening her own. Iris chose child stars because she knew the transition to adult stardom was hard to come by and gravitated towards wanting to help the younger generations.

She had one son, an actor who won a Tony award in 1985.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1013336/bio

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/movies/18burton.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26152309/iris-burton

591) Irtyau

591: Irtyau

Scribe to Nitocris I and Daughter of Pharaoh Psamtik I

Birth and Death Dates Unknown Ancient Egypt

Irtyau was the chief attendant of the Divine Adoratrice of Amun (which was Nitocris I).

The Divine Adoratrice was an office similar to the God’s Wife, one of the highest-ranking offices a woman could attain in ancient Egypt.

This page is currently under construction. Obviously, I heard Irtyau’s name somewhere, but I cannot currently find any sources listing her online or in any of my personal books, but that doesn’t mean I’ll erase her. It just means I have to keep looking.

Sources:

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/women2.htm

590) Violet Hilton

590: Violet Hilton

Conjoined Twin with Her Sister Daisy

Born: 5 February 1908, Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom

Died: January 1969, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America

Daisy and Violet were born to an unmarried woman and were pygopagus twins; meaning they were joined at the hips and fused at the pelvis. They shared blood circulation but no major organs and were the first conjoined twins born in England to live more than a few weeks.

Their mother rejected them and so they were unofficially adopted (read: purchased) by the midwife who helped bring them into the world, Mary Hilton, called “Auntie” by the girls.

By the time the girls were three years old they were being toured around the United Kingdom and then Germany and Austria; finally, they were brought to the United States and tutored in singing, dancing, piano, violin, clarinet, and other schooling lessons. At first, the girls were denied entry to the US because they were medically unfit by the immigration standards of the day; however, after Mary created a media circus about their situation, the United States officially allowed the twins to enter the states.

They started their Vaudeville career where they began earning $5,000 a week, but they didn’t see any of the money as it went straight to their managers. If the girls didn’t comply with their managers’ (or owners’, as they viewed them) demands, they were beaten and threatened with being institutionalized. In 1931, the twins sued their manager for their freedom (on the advice of Harry Houdini) and also won $100,000 in damages. The twins even had a small part of the Hollywood film Freaks.

Violet got engaged but twenty-one states turned her and her fiancé down for a marriage license on morality grounds before she finally married someone else in a publicity stunt in Texas. The public turned against her and her sister when their annulment was announced almost immediately.

By the late 1950’s, the girls were completely broke, and their manager stole all their money. The small town they were abandoned in took them in and allowed them to live in a trailer and let them work as produce clerks in a supermarket.

Daisy fell ill with Hong Kong Flu and died two to four days before Violet.

They were buried in a single coffin in a donated burial plot, and even share a profile page on Find a Grave, bound together, even in forever.

A documentary about the twins entitled Bound By Flesh was released in 2014.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bound-by-flesh-the-story-_b_5535211

https://allthatsinteresting.com/hilton-sisters

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hilton-sisters-grave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8499/daisy_and_violet-hilton

589) Daisy Hilton

“We [were] lonely, rich girls who were really paupers living in practical slavery.”

“I’m not a machine; I’m a woman. I should have the right to live like one.”

589: Daisy Hilton

Conjoined Twin with Her Sister Violet

Born: 5 February 1908, Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom

Died: January 1969, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America

Daisy and Violet were born to an unmarried woman and were pygopagus twins; meaning they were joined at the hips and fused at the pelvis. They shared blood circulation but no major organs and were the first conjoined twins born in England to live more than a few weeks.

Their mother rejected them and so they were unofficially adopted (read: purchased) by the midwife who helped bring them into the world.

By the time the girls were three years old they were being toured around the UK and then Germany and Austria; finally, they were brought to the United States and tutored in singing, dancing, piano, violin, clarinet, and other schooling lessons. At first, the girls were denied entry to the US because they were medically unfit by the immigration standards of the day; however, after Mary created a media circus about their situation, the United States officially allowed the twins to enter the states.

They started their Vaudeville career where they began earning $5,000 a week, but they didn’t see any of the money as it went straight to their managers. If the girls didn’t comply with their managers’ (or owners’, as they viewed them) demands, they were beaten and threatened with being institutionalized. In 1931, the twins sued their manager for their freedom (on the advice of Harry Houdini) and also won $100,000 in damages. The twins even had a small part of the Hollywood film Freaks.

Daisy married in 1941 and her marriage lasted less than a month due to extreme publicity. She even gave birth to a son, who was born perfectly healthy. Daisy gave him up for adoption.

By the late 1950’s, the girls were completely broke, and their manager stole all their money. The small town they were abandoned in took them in and allowed them to live in a trailer and let them work as produce clerks in a supermarket.

Daisy fell ill with Hong Kong Flu and died two to four days before Violet.

They were buried in a single coffin in a donated burial plot, and even share a profile page on Find a Grave, bound together, even in forever.

A documentary about the twins entitled Bound By Flesh was released in 2014.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bound-by-flesh-the-story-_b_5535211

https://allthatsinteresting.com/hilton-sisters

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hilton-sisters-grave

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/siamese-strippers-447673

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8499/daisy_and_violet-hilton

588) Greta Zimmer Friedman

"It was a day that everyone celebrated because everyone had somebody in the war, and they were coming home. So it was a wonderful gift finally to end this war. It was a long war, and it cost a lot."

588: Greta Zimmer Friedman

Female Subject of the VJ Day Kiss in Times Square Photograph

Born: 5 June 1924, Wiener Neustadt, Austria

Died: 8 September 2016 Richmond, Virginia, Untied States of America

Greta was born in Austria and her parents managed to secure her and her two sisters’ paperwork to get them to the United States before the Nazis could take control of the country. A fourth sister was sent to Palestine (present-day Israel), also to safety.

Greta later learned her parents had been killed in the death camps.

She was working in a dental office in New York on the day she heard the war might be ending so Greta walked the few blocks to Times Square to see if the news was true. While there, she was grabbed and kissed by a sailor who disappeared into the crowd afterward. Greta and George (the sailor) were completely unaware the moment had been photographed; much less that the moment would become an iconic picture of the joy of war’s end. George later stated he chose Greta at a moment’s notice because she was dressed in a nurse’s uniform. George had helped pull dead and wounded sailors from the water during the Battle of Okinawa and was grateful to the nurses who had helped save so many lives.

Greta worked several jobs; got married and had two children, and eventually graduated college the same year as her kids in 1981.

Greta was finally identified by Life Magazine and the photographer who took the image in 1980; although she first saw the image in the 1960’s and identified herself. She received an apology from the photographer for not getting her permission or identifying her that day.

Greta is buried beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.

It should be noted that Feminist activists today like to claim she was sexually assaulted and violated, and the photograph and statue (located in Sarasota, Florida and San Diego, California) should not be beloved icons of the end of the war. The statue, which is known as the Unconditional Surrender statue, was spray painted with the hashtag #MeToo in February of 2019.

However, it should also be remembered that Greta did say she didn’t want to be kissed, but she also didn’t view it as sexual assault either.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/karinabland/2019/02/20/post-war-kiss-iconic-picture-unwanted-sexual-advance/2928622002/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/woman-iconic-v-j-photo-died-age-92-heres-her-story-180960435/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/greta-zimmer-friedman-nurse-iconic-wwii-kissing-photo-dies-92-n646111

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/nyregion/greta-friedman-who-claimed-to-be-the-nurse-in-a-famous-v-j-day-photo-dies-at-92.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169710835/greta-friedman

587) Marilu Henner

"Even when I was 5 years old, people would say to my parents, 'What's with that kid and her memory? She remembers the last time I was here and everything that happened,' "They'd call me Little Miss Memory, the Memory Kid, or UNIVAC. You know, the old-fashioned computer.

"If someone [in my family] wanted to know when something happened, it was always, 'Ask Marilu.' Everybody in my family is extremely smart and everybody has great memories, but I knew something was very unusual about mine. When you're one of six kids, you're always looking for something that makes you different from your brothers and sisters."

587: Marilu Henner

Actress, Producer, Radio Host, and Author

Born: 6 April 1952, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America

Original Name: Mary Lucy Denise Pudlowski

Marilu is arguably most well known for being a regular on the NBC show Taxi.

She is also known for having hyperthymesia or Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory; meaning she can remember specific details of nearly every day of her life since she was a small child. There are only around 100 people in the world who have been diagnosed with hyperthymesia. This awesome brain power wasn’t even described and written about until 2006. That same year, Marilu was one of the featured interviewees on an episode of 60 Minutes that documented HSAM.

Marilu has also appeared on a season of Dancing With the Stars.

She has been married three times and has two sons with her second husband.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000447/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/actress-marilu-henner-has-a-highly-superior-autobiographical-memory-a/

586) Carrie Ann Inaba

586: Carrie Ann Inaba

Choreographer, Dancer, Singer, Actress, and Television Personality

Born: 5 January 1968, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America

Carrie Ann is most well known for being a judge on Dancing With the Stars (US).

She also appeared on episodes of In Living Color and started her career as a singer in Japan.

Carrie Ann holds a bachelor’s degree in world arts and cultures.

She is the Ambassador for Sjogren Syndrome Foundation and suffers from that same autoimmune disorder. Carrie Ann reportedly also suffers from near blindness and arthritis.

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0408336/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

https://abc.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/cast/carrie-ann-inaba

https://www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/health-and-safety/dancer-carrie-ann-inaba-speaks-out-about-chronic-pain/#

https://www.sjogrens.org/news/540-carrie-ann-inaba-stands-up-for-sjoegren-s