Top 10 February 12 Birthdays

Dishonorable Mention: February 12, 1663: Cotton Mather. Arguably the father of American Puritanism. The heck with him.

Dishonorable Mention: February 12, 1965: Brett Kavanaugh. This guy belongs in court, all right. As a defendant.

10. February 12, 1775: Louisa Adams. Having John and Abigail Adams as in-laws wasn't easy. But when her husband, John Quincy Adams, became President, she became First Lady, and was much more admired as that than her husband was as President.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1884: Alice Roosevelt Longworth. When her father, Theodore Roosevelt, was President, she married Ohio Congressman Nicholas Longworth, who later became Speaker of the House. The marriage was a great relief to TR, who said, in a rare admission of fallibility, "I can run the country, or I can control Alice, but I cannot do both."

After her husband died, she remained Washington's leading hostess. She liked to say, "If you can't say something nice about someone, come sit next to me." She lived long enough to be invited back to the White House by every President through Ronald Reagan.

9. February 12, 1880: John L. Lewis. One of the leading figures in the history of the American labor movement, he was President of the United Mine Workers from 1919 to 1960.

8. February 12, 1881: Anna Pavlova. If not the greatest ballerina of all time, certainly the 1st one to lead a worldwide tour.

7. February 12, 1956: Arsenio Hall. The Arsenio Hall Show only ran in syndication from 1989 to 1994, so it's easy to forget how big it was. He essentially made Bill Clinton President, but letting him play saxophone with his band, and then talking policy with him. (Hillary sat in for the last segment.)

He introduced young white Americans to black celebrities they always should have known. And he brought on any musical personality willing to come on: "I've had black singers, I've had white singers, I've had white singers who think they black, I've had black singers who think they're white, I've had male singers who think they're female singers. It's music's United Nations."

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1939: Ray Manzarek. He was never on Arsenio, but the organist was the heart and soul of The Doors.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1952: Michael McDonald. The former lead singer of The Doobie Brothers did make an appearance on Arsenio, as a soloist in 1990.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1968: Chynna Phillips. The daughter of of the Mama's & the Papa's John and Michelle Phillips, she formed the singing trio Wilson Phillips with Carnie and Wendy Wilson, daughters of Beach Boy Brian Wilson. Despite being one of the biggest music acts of the early 1990s, they were never on Arsenio.

6. February 12, 1915: Lorne Greene. He had a perfect voice for radio. Broadcasting the news for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the early days of World War II, when things weren't going so well for the Allies, he was known as the Voice of Doom. When the tide turned, he was known as the Voice of Canada.

America came to know him as Ben Cartwright, the "Pa" of the Ponderosa clan, on Bonanza. Later, he played a very different kind of patriarch, Commander Adama on the original version of Battlestar Galactica.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1945: Maud Adams. The only woman to play 2 different "Bond Girls": Andrea Anders in The Man with the Golden Gun, and Octavia Smythe, the titular Octopussy.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1953: Joanna Kerns. The sister of Olympic swimming champion Donna DeVarona, she played Maggie Seaver on Growing Pains.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1968: Josh Brolin. The son of James Brolin, he is best known for playing Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1980: Christina Ricci. Though now over 40, she'll probably be best remembered for playing Wednesday Addams in the 1990s Addams Family movies.

5. February 12, 1893: Omar Bradley. One of the 5-star Generals of World War II. Afterward, he said, "The only way to win a nuclear was is never to have one."

4. February 12, 1938: Judy Blume. America's greatest author for children. Better than Judith Viorst? Yes, because she could give Peter Hatcher an entire year of terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days.

3. February 12, 1934: Bill Russell. 11 NBA Championships. 2 of them as player-coach, the 1st black coach in modern major league sports. 2 National Championships. An Olympic Gold Medal. How the hell do I put 2 guys ahead of the greatest winner in the history of Western Hemisphere sports?

Well, Russell helped basketball to evolve, and he helped civil rights to involve. One of the guys ahead of him is the father of evolutionary theory. And the other... Well, I'll get to them.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1903: Chick Hafey. A sinus condition forced Charles James Hafey to become one of the earliest baseball players to wear glasses on the field. And it would eventually force him into retirement at the age of 34. But not before he won the 1931 National League batting title, helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the 1926 and 1931 World Series, appeared in the 1st All-Star Game in 1933, and built a .317 lifetime batting average.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1917: Al Cervi. He played on the Rochester Royals' 1946 National Basketball League Championship team, and was head coach of the Syracuse Nationals' 1955 NBA Championship team.

Honorable Mention: February 12, 1990: Robert Griffin III. He won the Heisman Trophy at Baylor University in 2011. In 2012, it looked like he might lead the Washington Redskins all the way, the 1st rookie ever to quarterback a team to win the Super Bowl. Then he got hurt, and he's never been the same.

2. February 12, 1809: Charles Darwin. Yes, the father of evolutionary theory was born on the exact same day as the Great Emancipator.

1. February 12, 1809: Abraham Lincoln. If I hadn't put him at Number 1, I would have to come up with an explanation of the people, by the people, for the people.

Still alive as of this writing: Kavanaugh, Hall, McDonald, Phillips, Maud Adams, Kerns, Brolin, Ricci, Blume, Russell, Griffin.