Top 10 Birthdays

Honorable Mention: May 25, 1887: Padre Pio.  Born Francesco Forgione, and canonized as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, the Franciscan monk exhibited stigmata, and was known in his time to heal the sick. He was canonized after sick people began praying to him and getting better. Honorable Mention: May 25, 1917: Theodore Hesburgh.  From 1952 to 1987, he was the President of the University of Notre Dame. The school's main library, which overlooks Notre Dame Stadium and has a mural of Christ with his hands raised, known as "Touchdown Jesus," is named for him. At the time of his death in 2015, he had more honorary degrees than any living person, 150. Disclaimer: I'm a Protestant, but I can still admire these two giants of 20th Century Catholicism. Honorable Mention: May 25, 1960: Amy Klobuchar. In 2020, like previous U.S. Senators from Minnesota Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy and Walter Mondale, she ran for President. She finished 3rd in the New Hampshire Primary, but 6th in...

Dishonorable Mention: May 22, 1942: Theodore Kaczynzski. He could have been one of the great scientists or mathematicians of his generation. Instead, he turned to a primitive life. When the encroachment of society rendered that too difficult, he became the "Unabomber": From 1978 to 1995, he killed 3 people and injured 23 others in 16 separate bombings. Thanks to assistance from his own brother, the FBI arrested him in 1996. In 2021, he was transferred to a federal prison hospital for health reasons. 10. May 22, 1844: Mary Cassatt. One of the few women in the Impressionist painting movement, she was probably the leading female American painter until Georgia O'Keeffe came along. 9. May 22, 1930: Harvey Milk. The 1st openly gay politician elected to office in America, he didn't even get to serve one full year as a member of the Board of Supervisors (San Francisco's equivalent of a City Council) before he was assassinated. He might not have become so big an icon if...

Somewhat Honorable Mention: May 2, 1879: James F. Byrnes. The good: He was briefly a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, before President Franklin D. Roosevelt decided that, with World War II raging, he would be more valuable in the State Department. There, he was the Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization, and then the Director of the Office of War Mobilization. In this last capacity, he directed the building of the atomic bomb that ended the war. He then served as the 1st postwar Secretary of State. The bad: As a U.S. Senator before all this, and as Governor of South Carolina after this, he was an ardent segregationist. Somewhat Honorable Mention: May 2, 1892: Manfred von Richthofen. "The Red Baron" fought for Imperial Germany, an enemy of freedom. But he was the most successful fighter pilot of World War I, shooting down 80 opposing planes, before meeting his own doom in 1918. 10. May 2, 1946: David Suchet.  He's English, despite his French-sounding name and...

10. April 23, 1888: Georges Vanier. Having lost a leg while serving in World War I, he became a diplomat, and eventually the 1st French-Canadian to be appointed as Governor-General of Canada. The Vanier Cup, the trophy for the championship of Canadian college football, is named for him. Honorable Mention: April 23, 1947: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. At the start of Northern Ireland's "Troubles" in 1969, just before her 22nd birthday, she was elected to Britain's Parliament, and became a prominent activist for Catholic self-determination in Northern Ireland.   Dishonorable Mention: April 23, 1791: James Buchanan. In 1856, with America falling apart over the issue of slavery, the Democratic Party nominated him for President, mainly because he'd been out of the country and had offended hardly anybody over the last few years. He had served in Pennsylvania's House of Representatives from 1814 to 1816, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1821 to 1831...

Dishonorable Mention: April 18, 1882:  Getúlio Vargas . After losing an election for President of Brazil in 1930, he led a coup that installed him in power, ruling the Estado Novo (New State) until 1945. He regained power in 1951, but a counter-coup led him to commit suicide rather than be taken alive. 10. April 19, 1981: Hayden Christensen.  He played Anakin Skywalker in  Star Wars  Episodes II and III. 9. April 19, 1954: Trevor Francis.  In 1979, the forward was sold by Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest, becoming Britain's 1st  £1 million player. Result? He led Forest to the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. He also won a Coppa Italia with Genoa team Sampdoria in 1985, and a League Cup with Sheffield Wednesday in 1991. He also played in America, helping the Detroit Express win a North American Soccer League Division title in 1978. He played for England in the 1982 World Cup. 8. Honorable Mention: April 19, 1925: Hugh O'Brian.  He starred on the Wes...

10. April 7, 1964: Russell Crowe.  He's been Zeus, Noah, Maximus Decimus Meridius, Robin Hood, Inspector Javert, Dr. John Nash, Captain Jack Aubrey, Dr. Henry Jekyll (and Edward Hyde), Heavyweight Champion Jim Braddock, and Jor-El. As the man himself would say, "Are you not entertained?" 9. April 7, 1954: Tony Dorsett.   The running back won the 1976 Heisman Trophy as he led the University of Pittsburgh to the National Championship. The next year, he won the NFL Rookie of the Year to help the Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowl XII (and also reach, but lose, Super Bowl XIII). He made 4 Pro Bowls, rushed for 12,739 yards, caught 398 passes for 3,554 yards, and scored 90 touchdowns. He and Marcus Allen are the only 2 players to win the Heisman Trophy, the National Championship, and the Super Bowl, and be elected to both the College and the Pro Football Halls of Fame. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked him 53rd on its list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. In 2010, the NFL Netw...