History Blog

February 14

Happy Birthday RIP Jack Benny(Benjamin Kubelsky 1894–1974) Edward Platt(1916–1974) Vic Morrow(1929–1982) Gregory Hines(1946–2003) ; Hugh Downs–92 Florence Henderson–79 Michael Bloomberg–71 Raymond Teller–65 Alan Hunter–56 Meg Tilly(Margaret Chan)–53 Alfred “Freddie” Highmore–21 ; 1929 – Saint Valentine’s Day massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone’s gang, are murdered in Chicago, Illinois.

February 13

Happy Birthday Charles “Chuck” Yeager–90 George Segal–79 Marilyn “Kim” Novak–80 Gerald “Jerry” Springer–69 Stockard Channing(Susan Stockard)–69 Peter Gabriel–63 Robert “Robbie” Williams–39 Mena Suvari–34 ; 1931 – New Delhi becomes the capital of India.

February 12

Happy Birthday RIP Charles Darwin(1809–1882) Abraham Lincoln(1809–1865) Lyon “Lorne” Greene(1915–1987) ; Franco Zeffirelli(Gianfranco Corsi)–90 Joe Don Baker–77 Judy Blume(Judith Sussman)–75 Frederick “Michael” Ironside–63 Michael McDonald–61 Joanna Kerns(Joanne DeVarona)–60 Arsenio Hall–58 Josh Brolin–45 Darren Aronofsky–44 Jesse Spencer–34 Christina Ricci–33 ; 1909 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was founded in New York. 

February 11

Happy Birthday RIP Thomas Alva Edison(1847-1931) Éva Gábor(1919–1995) Leslie Nielsen(1926–2010) ; Tatiana Blacker(“Tina Louise”)–79 Burton Reynolds–77 Sheryl Crow–51 Jennifer Aniston–44 Brandy Norwood–34 Matthew Lawrence–33 Taylor Lautner–21 ; 1942 – The first gold record is presented to Glenn Miller for “Chattanooga Choo Choo”.

February 10

Happy Birthday RIP Alan Hale(Rufus MacKahan 1892–1950) Jimmy Durante(1893–1980) Jerry Goldsmith(1929–2004) ; Robert Wagner–83 Roberta Flack–74 Mark Spitz–63 Laura Dern–46  Nichcalo “Jazzmun” Crayton–44 Elizabeth Banks(Mitchell)–39 Brent Everett(Dustin Germaine)–29 ; 1840 – Britain’s Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gotha

February 9

Happy Birthday RIP Carmen Miranda(Maria Miranda da Cunha 1909–1955) ; Carole King(Klein)–71 Joseph “Joe” Pesci–70 Mia Farrow–68 Judith Light(Licht)–64 James Jackson Bullock–58 Colin Egglesfield–40 Zhāng Zǐyi(章子怡)–34 Tom Hiddleston–32 David Gallagher–28 ; 1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources ; 1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a “record-busting” audience of 73 million viewers

February 8

Happy Birthday RIP Julia “Lana” Turner(1921–1995) John “Jack” Lemmon(1925–2001) James Dean(1931–1955) ; Edward “Ted” Koppel–73 Nicholas “Nick” Nolte–72 Robert Klein–71 Brooke Adams–64 Mary Steenburgen–60 John Grisham–58 Vincent Neil Wharton–52 Mary McCormack–44 Seth Green–39 Liam McIntyre–31 James “Jim” Verraros–30 ; 1910 – The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce ; 1960 – The first eight brass star plaques are installed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame near Hollywood and Gower

February 7

Happy Birthday RIP Charles Dickens(1812–1870) Harry Sinclair Lewis(1885–1951) Clarence “Buster” Crabbe(1908–1983) Eddie Bracken(1915–2002) ; Miguel Ferrer–58 James Spader–53  Troyal “Garth” Brooks–51 Eddie Izzard–51 Chris Rock–48 Robyn Lively–41 Christopher Ashton Kutcher–35 Kerli Kõiv–25 ; 1935 – The classic board game Monopoly is invented

February 6

Happy Birthday RIP George “Babe” Ruth(1895–1948) Bob Marley(1945–1981) ;  Sári “Zsa Zsa” Gábor–96 Mamie Van Doren(Joan Olander)–82 Elmore “Rip” Torn–82 Mike Farrell–74 Tom Brokaw–73 Fabiano Forte–71 Natalie Cole–63 Kathy Najimy–56 William “Axl” Rose–51 Rick Astley–47 Josh Stewart–36 Ben Lawson–33 ; 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.

February 5

Happy Birthday RIP Richmond “John” Carradine(1906–1988) Red Buttons(Aaron Chwatt 1919–2006) ; Henry “Hank” Aaron–78 David Selby–72 Barbara Hershey(Herzstein)–65 Thomas “Tom” Wilkinson–65 Timothy “Tim” Meadows–52 Jennifer Jason Leigh(Morrow)–51 Laura Linney–49 Robert “Bobby” Brown–44 Thomas “Chris” Parnell–46 Paul Vandervort–28 ; 1852 – The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, opens to the public ; 1919 – Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith launch United Artists