First off...Happy Pannychis to you all!
It seems that today it is customary to celebrate the anniversary of my introduction to this tainted orb.
Instead, I'll leave you with a few more "important" people that may or may not be toasting this day for similar reasons:
Here are some events that happened on this day that jump out at me:
454 - Roman Emperor Valentinian III assassinates Aetius in his own throne room.
1780 - American Revolutionary War: Benedict Arnold gives the British the plans to West Point.
1937 - J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is published.
1970 - Monday Night Football premieres. (Priorities, people...priorities.)
With that, the birthday list:
1415 - Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1499)
1452 - Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican priest and ruler of Florence (d. 1498)
1629 - Philip Cardinal Howard, English Catholic Cardinal (d. 1694)
1640 - Philippe I, Duc d'Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV of France (d. 1701)
1645 - Louis Joliet, Canadian explorer (d. 1700)
1756 - John MacAdam, Scottish engineer and road-builder (d. 1836)
1840 - Murad V, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1904)
1842 - Abd-ul-Hamid II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1918)
1853 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)
1863 - John Bunny, American film comedian (d. 1915)
1866 - H. G. Wells, English writer (d. 1946)
1866 - Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist and Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
1873 - Papa Jack Laine, American musician (d. 1966)
1874 - Gustav Holst, English composer (d. 1934)
1905 - Marguerite Roberts, American writer (d. 1989)
1902 - Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet (d. 1963)
1912 - Chuck Jones, American animator (d. 2002)
1919 - Mario Bunge, Argentine philosopher and physicist
1919 - Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani scholar (d. 1988)
1920 - Jay Ward, American animator (d. 1988)
1926 - Donald A. Glaser, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1929 - Bernard Williams, English philosopher (d. 2003)
1931 - Larry Hagman, American actor
1934 - Leonard Cohen, Canadian singer and songwriter
1935 - Henry Gibson, American actor
1944 - Fannie Flagg, American actress and novelist
1945 - Jerry Bruckheimer, American film and television producer
1946 - Moritz Leuenberger, Swiss Federal Councilor
1947 - Stephen King, American author
1947 - Marsha Norman, American playwright
1949 - Artis Gilmore, American basketball player
1950 - Charles Clarke, British politician
1951 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen rebel leader
1952 - Neil Peart, Canadian drummer (Rush)
1953 - Arie Luyendyk, Dutch race car driver
1955 - Mika Kaurismäki, Finnish director
1957 - Ethan Coen, American film director
1959 - Dave Coulier, American actor
1960 - David James Elliott, Canadian actor
1961 - Nancy Travis, American actress
1962 - Rob Morrow, American actor
1963 - Cecil Fielder, baseball player
1963 - Curtly Ambrose, West Indian cricketer
1965 - Cheryl Hines, American actress
1967 - Tyler Stewart, Canadian drummer (Barenaked Ladies)
1967 - Faith Hill, American singer
1968 - Ricki Lake, American actress and talk show hostess
1971 - Luke Wilson, American actor
1971 - Alfonso Ribeiro, Dominican-born actor
1972 - Jon Kitna, American football player
1972 - David Silveria, American drummer (Ko?n)
1972 - Liam Gallagher, British singer (Oasis)
1975 - Doug Davis, baseball player
1978 - Liviu Badoiu, Romanian Lover
1979 - Chris Gayle, West Indian cricketer
1979 - Radu Lupu, Romanian Best Racoon
1980 - Kareena Kapoor, Indian actress
1981 - Nicole Richie, American actress
1983 - Maggie Grace, American actress
1983 - Hart Hancock, American musician (Amphoteric)
I'm saving the best for last:
1950 - Bill Murray, American actor
My idol and me...exactly 26 years apart.
A Cinderella story, indeed.
