Top 10 February 1 Birthdays
Honorable Mention: February 1, 1901: Frank Buckles. He turned out to be the last living American veteran of World War I, lying about his age to get into the Army, and driving ambulances and motorcycles. He hadn't intended to also serve in World War II, but was in the Philippines on business, working in the shipping industry, when he was taken prisoner there by the Japanese, and held for 3 years, nearly starving to death before being freed by Allied forces. He was still driving a tractor on his West Virginia farm at age 103. He said, "If your country needs you, you should be right there, that is the way I felt when I was young, and that's the way I feel today." But he also said the country should not go to war, "unless it's an emergency." He lived until 2011, just past his 110th birthday. Honorable Mention: February 1, 1917: Eiji Sawamura. In 1934, a group of American baseball players visited Japan to hold a baseball clinic and play some games against...