Top 10 February 25 Birthdays

10. February 25, 1917: Anthony Burgess. He wrote A Clockwork Orange.

9. February 25, 1903: Frank "King" Clancy. Despite being only 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds, the defenseman was one of the toughest hockey players of his generation. He helped the Ottawa Senators win the Stanley Cup in 1923 and 1927, and the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1932.

In 1998, 61 years after his last game, The Hockey News ranked him 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2017, 80 years after his finale, the NHL named him to their 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players. The NHL annually awards the King Clancy Memorial Trophy to the player who "demonstrates leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made exceptional humanitarian contributions in the community."

8. February 25, 1937: Bob Schieffer. Since 1969, he's worked for CBS News. He was their chief Washington correspondent from 1982 to 2015, and the host of their Sunday morning news show Face the Nation from 1991 to 2015.

7. February 25, 1841: Pierre-Auguste Renoir. One of the leaders of the French Impressionist painting movement.

6. February 25, 1928: Larry Gelbart. After writing for Sid Caesar's TV shows, he co-wrote the Broadway musical A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum. Then he co-created the TV show M*A*S*H with Gene Reynolds.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1901: Herbert "Zeppo" Marx. The youngest of the Marx Brothers, he appeared in films with Groucho, Harpo and Chico from 1929 to 1933, then left to become a theatrical agent.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1913: Jim Backus. He played Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island, and was the longtime voice of cartoon character Mr. Magoo.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1913: Gert Fröbe. He played Auric Goldfinger, one of the best-known James Bond villains.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1971: Sean Astin. The son of Patty Duke and the stepson of John Astin, he's been a Goonie, a Hobbit, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, the World's Mightiest Mortal, and, for one play, a Notre Dame football player.

5. February 25, 1919: Monte Irvin. Born in South Carolina but raised in Orange, New Jersey, he starred for the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues, and was one of the players considered to become the 1st black player in the white major leagues.

That didn't happen, although he and Hank Thompson did become the 1st 2 to play for the New York Giants, debuting in the same game in 1949. In 1951, he helped the Giants win the National League Pennant, leading the League in RBIs, and stealing home plate in the World Series against the Yankees. The Giants lost that Series, but would win it in 1954.

Of all the players from the Negro Leagues who were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he is the only one who could legitimately have been elected based on his performance in only the black leagues or only the white leagues.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1918: Bobby Riggs. He made a spectacle of himself beating Margaret Court in 1973, and then made a fool of himself losing to Billie Jean King. But, in the preceding generation, he really was a great tennis player, winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 1939, and the U.S. Open again in 1941.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1938: Herb Elliott. In August 1958, the Australian broke the world record in both the mile run and in the "metric mile," the 1,500 meters. He won the Gold Medal in the 1,500 at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1940: Ron Santo. A 9-time All-Star and a 5-time Gold Glove, the Hall of Fame 3rd baseman for the Chicago Cubs was also a beloved broadcaster.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1947: Lee Evans. He set a world record in the 400 meters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, and it stood for 20 years.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1962: Birgit Fischer. For East Germany, she won a Gold Medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and 2 more at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. For the united Germany, she won 1 in 1992 in Barcelona, 1 in 1996 in Atlanta, 2 in 2000 in Sydney, and 1 in 2004 in Athens. That's 8 Gold Medals over 6 Olympics, and that's with East Germany boycotting the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Before you say anything, it's kind of hard for steroids to provide much help to a canoe racer. And she kept winning after German reunification.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1963: Paul O'Neill. The right fielder won a World Series with the Cincinnati Reds in 1990, and 4 more with the New York Yankees: 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. He made 5 All-Star Games, and won the 1994 American League batting title.

Somewhat Honorable Mention: January 25, 1981: Park Ji-Sung. The midfielder helped Dutch team PSV Eindhoven win the Dutch league title in 2003 and 2005. And he helped South Korea reach the Semifinal of the 2002 World Cup on home soil.

I say "Somewhat Honorable," because he also played for Manchester United, so while he may not have cheated, he benefited from the cheating of his teammates in winning 5 Premier League titles and the 2008 UEFA Champions League title.

Honorable Mention: February 25, 1999: Gianluigi Donnarumma. The youngest goalkeeper ever to play for the Italian national team, he backstopped them to the Euro 2020 title. After playing for AC Milan, he now plays for Paris Saint-Germain.

4. February 25, 1920: Philip Habib. How this man never got the Nobel Peace Prize, I'll never know. He worked on the Vietnam peace talks in the 1960s, was U.S. Ambassador to South Korea in the 1970s, and settled civil wars in Lebanon (his ancestral homeland) and Central America in the 1980s.

Dishonorable Mention: February 25, 1888: John Foster Dulles. U.S. Secretary of State from 1953 until his death in 1959, he and his brother, CIA Director Allen Dulles, did some despicable things, all over the world. And yet, the international airport for Washington, D.C., out in the Virginia suburbs, was named for him.

3. February 25, 1873: Enrico Caruso. The most famous opera singer in human history, and a pioneer in the recording industry.

2. February 25, 1778: José de San Martín. One of the Liberators of South America, he was the 1st President of Peru.

Honorable Mention: February 23, 1910: Millicent Fenwick. She served New Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983, and served as the inspiration for Doonesbury character Lacey Davenport.

Honorable Mention: February 23, 1921: Pierre Laporte. After 9 years in Quebec's Provincial legislature, the National Assembly, before becoming Deputy Premier of Quebec in 1970. He was kidnapped and killed by the Quebec Liberation Front during the October Crisis that year. A bridge in Quebec City, over the St. Lawrence River, is named for him.

Honorable Mention: February 23, 1928: A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. One of the earliest black federal judges, he served from 1964 to 1993. Had a Democrat served as President during the terms of Ronald Reagan or the elder George Bush, he could have been put on the Supreme Court.

1. February 25, 1943: George Harrison. Hard to believe, but by 1968, being in The Beatles may have been holding him back.

Still alive as of this writing: Schieffer, Astin, Elliott, Fischer, O'Neill, Park, Donnarumma.