Question: When did the actress born who perfromed as a history professor Lucy Preston?
Context: The Best War Ever: America and World War II is a revisionist history book written by Dr. Michael C. C. Adams (professor of history at Northern Kentucky University).  The book was and first published by the Johns Hopkins University press in 1993 as part of its "American Moment" series, edited by University of Wisconsin–Madison history professor Stanley I. Kutler.  In a 2004 survey of American college history instructors, the book was voted #2 in the "most likely to plagiarize" category, finishing just behind "Amusing the Million" by John Kasson. Timeless is an American science fiction time travel drama series that premiered on NBC on October 3, 2016.  It follows the adventures of history professor Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), scientist Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) and soldier Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) as they attempt to stop Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjić) from changing the course of American history through time travel.  The series was created by Shawn Ryan and Eric Kripke and also stars Paterson Joseph and Sakina Jaffrey.  Executive producers include John Davis and John Fox of "The Blacklist". Jerry Harrell Bentley (December 12, 1949 – July 15, 2012) was an American academic and professor of world history professor.  He was a founding editor of the "Journal of World History" since 1990.  He wrote on the cultural history of early modern Europe and on cross-cultural interactions in world history.  He was one of the cited experts in Annenberg Media's 2004 series of educational videos that are broadcast by satellite on the Annenberg Channel. Paul Jankowski is a history professor at Brandeis University.  Jankowski has given several lectures concerning important world affairs such as the Paris riots.  He has written books about events like the Stavisky Affair.  He is the Raymond Ginger Professor of History at Brandeis University, and the former chair of the history department.  His expertise is in modern French and European history, as well as war and conflict in European history.  He did his undergraduate and doctoral work at Oxford University. Abigail Leigh Spencer (born August 4, 1981) is an American actress known for her recurring roles on "Mad Men" and "Suits", and her lead role in "Timeless". Delia Razon (born Lucy May Grytz; born August 8, 1931) is a Filipino actress born to a German father and a Filipino-Spanish mother.  She made her debut in 1949 in the LVN Pictures' "Krus na Bituin."  Dona Narcisa de Leon discovered Lucy's talent and gave her the screen name Delia Razon.  She became popular for her loveteam with Rogelio dela Rosa She married Aurelio Reyes, whose daughter Rea Reyes married Rey "PJ" Abellana, a 1980s movie heartthrob.  Carla Abellana is Razon's granddaughter. Lucy Gwynne Branham (1892 in Kempsville, Virginia - 1966) was an American suffragist associated with the National Women's Party.  She earned degrees in history from Washington College in Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University (Master's degree).  While teaching in Florida, she received a Carnegie Medal for saving Dema T. Nelson from drowning in the ocean in 1915.  She began work on a Ph.D. at Columbia University under Charles A. Beard, but, in the words of historian Julia L. Mickenberg, Branham "turned from academia to activism, becoming a field organizer for the NWP."  Historian Katherine A. S. Siegel notes that, "In 1916, Branham put her studies aside to begin work in the National Woman's Party."  Siegel writes that Branham "worked tirelessly for suffrage and, when she could, on the readings Beard assigned her," and she began teaching history in Columbia's adult extension program in the fall of 1920, but she left within a year to go to Russia as a representative of the "New York Herald" - Armand Hammer described her as the "suffragette history professor."  Although the dissertation she was working on ("The History of Labor and Politics in New York") was listed as being "in progress" with an expected completion date of 1922, Columbia University "has no record that Branham ever finished her Ph.D." Her Johns Hopkins master's thesis ("An Outline of the Political History of Georgia, During the Revolutionary War") is the "only" thesis or dissertation listed under her name in WorldCat, so Branham must have been ABD and never finished her doctorate, concentrating on activism rather than academe. Rodney O'Gliasain Kennedy-Minott (June 1, 1928 – December 15, 2004) was an American diplomat, Democratic Party activist and history professor at Stanford University.  He also served as a history professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Lucy Isabella Buckstone (September 1857 – 17 March 1893) was an English actress born to a noted British stage family.  She was perhaps best remembered for her portrayals of Annette in the Leopold Davis Lewis drama "The Bells", and Lucy Ormond in "Peril" by Scott and Stephenson. Howard Brett Melendy (May 30, 1924 – April 19, 2008) was a prominent American historian, writer, researcher, publisher, autobiographer, dean, history professor, and filipinologist.  Melendy was a professor and administrator at the San José State University in California and the University of Hawai'i.  As a professor, he taught about the history of California and United States history.  He was the first chairman of the history department of San José State University.  He was a life member of the American Historical Association.
Answer: August 4, 1981