May 15, 1957

1957Meg Gardiner, American-English author and academic^[†]

Meg Gardiner is an American thriller writer and author of fifteen published books. Her best-known books are the Evan Delaney novels, first published in 2002. In June 2008, she published the first novel in a new series, featuring forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett. More recently she has published three stand-alone novels—Ransom River, The Shadow Tracer, and Phantom Instinct —and four novels in a new series: UNSUB (2017), Into the Black Nowhere (2018), The Dark Corners of the Night (2020), and Shadow Heart (2024).

1957Juan José Ibarretxe, Spanish politician^[†]

Juan José Ibarretxe Markuartu is a former president of the Basque Autonomous Community in Spain. Also a leading member of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) during the period, he held office from 2 January 1999 to 7 May 2009. Ibarretxe is an advocate of Basque independence by peaceful means.

1957Keith Andrews, American race car driver (born 1920)^[†]

Keith Philip Andrews was an American racecar driver. He was killed after crashing his car during practice for the 1957 Indianapolis 500.

1957Dick Irvin, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (born 1892)^[†]

James Dickinson "Dick" Irvin Jr. was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He played for professional teams in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, the Western Canada Hockey League, and the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1916 to 1928, when he had to retire from repeated injuries. Irvin was one of the greatest players of his day, balancing a torrid slap shot and tough style with gentlemanly play. For his playing career, Irvin was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. After playing, Irvin built a successful career as a coach in the NHL with the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadiens. He won one Stanley Cup as a coach with Toronto, three more with Montreal, finishing with over 600 wins as a coach. He also served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War.