12 February 2009

Birthday Boys



Ok, so how did I not know until today thatAbraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day (February 12, 1809)? It seems like Darwin should be older than Lincoln for some reason (maybe because he lived longer?)

Anyway, that makes today the 200th anniversary of both of their births. That’s quite an impressive day in history. FYI, some less historically significant others born on Feb. 12 include Omar Bradley, Lorne Greene, Judy Blume, Arlen Specter,Joe Don Baker, Ray Manzarek, Micheal McDonald, Bill Russell, Arsenio Hall, Josh Brolin, Darren Aronofsky, Ed Lover, Christina Ricci, and Fonzworth Bentley (yes, Diddy's manservant or whatever). Quite a diverse assortment there.
People who died on this day include: Charles Schultz, Tom Landry, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (the album title “Black Music for White People is still one of my favorites)]

I included both of the boys beardless in the photos, just to go against the norm. Also, I’ve always loved beardless Lincoln (check him out there, with his hipster hair), and you almost never see him that way, even though he only had the beard when he was president, basically for the last 5 years of his life. (A fact I discovered while looking for the pic. I also stumbled on this charming story of why he grew a beard. Apparently, it's all about the ladies. Ladies love beards and will therefore get their husbands to elect you president...or something.)

Anyway, Happy Birthday boys. Go out and celebrate the Union and Evolution in their honor.


1 comment:

KMS said...

OK, that Lincoln pic is the best one I've ever seen of him. I must get a copy of that and frame it for display at our house.

February is also the birth month of some cool cats in the current day, like you and me!