 Birthdays
February 12
1775 - Louisa Adams (Johnson)
wife of 6th U.S. President John Quincy Adams; died May 15, 1852
1809 - Charles Darwin
naturalist: theory of evolution: On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex; died Apr 19, 1882
1809 - Abraham Lincoln
16th U.S. President [1861-1865]; married to Mary Todd [four sons]; assassinated Apr 15, 1865; see Honest Abe Day [above]
1880 - John L. Lewis
U.S. labor leader: United Mine Workers of America; died June 11, 1969
1881 - Anna (Pavlovna) Pavlova
Russia’s premier ballerina; died Jan 23, 1931
1914 - (Gordon) Tex Beneke
bandleader, singer, tenor sax: Glenn Miller Orchestra: Chattanooga Choo Choo, Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree; died May 30, 2000
1915 - Lorne Greene
newscaster: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC]; actor: Bonanza, The Silver Chalice, Earthquake, Battlestar Galactica; pseudo-singer: Ringo; died Sep 11, 1987
1917 - Dom (Dominic Paul) DiMaggio
‘The Little Professor’: baseball: Boston Red Sox [all-star: 1941, 1942, 1946, 1949-1952/World Series: 1946]; younger brother of Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio
1919 - Forrest Tucker
actor: Sands of Iwo Jima, The Yearling, Thunder Run, F Troop; died Oct 25, 1986
1923 - Franco Zeffirelli (Corsi)
director: The Champ, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Endless Love, Jesus of Nazareth
1926 - Joe (Joseph Henry) Garagiola
baseball: catcher: SL Cardinals [World Series: 1946]; Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, NY Giants; sportscaster: NBC’s Game of the Week; TV host: Today, Westminster Dog Show; author: Baseball is a Funny Game, It’s Anybody’s Ballgame
1930 - Arlen Specter
U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
1934 - Bill Russell (William Felton)
Basketball Hall of Famer: Boston Celtics: NBA MVP [1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965]
1935 - Gene McDaniels (Eugene Booker McDaniels)
singer: A Hundred Pounds of Clay, Tower of Strength, Chip Chip
1936 - Joe Don Baker
actor: Cool Hand Luke, The Natural, Fletch, Citizen Cohn, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Ring of Steel, Charlie Varrick
1938 - Judy Blume
author: Superfudge, Blubber
1938 - Johnny Rutherford
auto racer: Indianapolis 500 winner: 1974, 1976, 1980 [oldest driver to win an Indy race]
1939 - Ray Manzarek
musician: keyboards: group: The Doors: The End, Light My Fire, People are Strange, Love Me Two Times, Riders on the Storm
1942 - Pat (Patrick Edward) Dobson
baseball: pitcher: Detroit Tigers [World Series: 1968], San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles [World Series: 1971/all-star: 1972], Atlanta Braves, NY Yankees, Cleveland Indians
1944 - Moe Bandy
singer: Americana, Where’s the Dress, Till I’m Too Old to Die Young; ten #1 hits, 45 top-ten hits; LP: Good Ol’ Boys [w/Joe Stampley
1945 - Maud Adams
actress: Octopussy, Killer Force, The Man with the Golden Gun, Emerald Point N.A.S., Chicago Story
1948 - Joe Schermie
musician: bass: group: Three Dog Night: One, Easy to be Hard, Eli’s Cooming, Mama Told Me [Not to Come], Joy to the World, Black & White, Shambala
1949 - Len (Leonard Shenoff) Randle
baseball: Washington Senators, Texas Rangers, NY Mets, NY Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners
1950 - Michael Ironside
actor: V, Scanners, Top Gun, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling, Total Recall, Free Willy, SeaQuest DSV, ER, Starship Troopers, The Perfect Storm
1952 - Simon MacCorkindale
actor: Falcon Crest, Manimal, Counterstrike, Obsessive Love, Jaws 3, Death on the Nile
1953 - Joanna Kerns
actress: The Four Seasons, Growing Pains; gymnast
1955 - Arsenio Hall
Emmy Award-winning TV talk-show host: Emmy Award-winning TV talk-show host: The Arsenio Hall Show Show [1990, 1993]; MTV Video Music Awards [1988-1991], The Late Show, The 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour; actor: Harlem Nights, Coming to America, Amazon Women on the Moon, Martial Law; entertainer: Thicke of the Night, Motown Revue
1957 - Mark Bitwhacker, ATWR FReeper extrodinaire, PUNmaster du joir and the sweetest, kindest most loving person who has made me so happy!!! Happy Birthday Baby!!
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His life was what America was all about. An average boy, born on this day in 1809 on a farm in a log cabin in Hodgenville, Kentucky, was able to become the 16th President of the United States. 
