Honorable Mention: February 5, 1725: James Otis Jr. The Cape Cod native was part of one of the most influential families in the American Revolution. He coined the slogan, "Taxation without representation is tyranny." He was also one of the earliest white Americans to advocate for the rights of black Americans.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: February 5, 1788: Robert Peel. Prime Minister of Britain briefly in 1834 and '35, and again from 1841 to 1846, he created the modern police force, leading to British policemen, to this day, being known as "Bobbies" and "Peelers."
Unfortunately, his many reforms are shadowed by being the man who presided over the start of the Irish Potato Famine. Even if it wasn't his fault, he still bears some responsibility.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: February 5, 1840: Hiram Maxim. He held patents on hair-curling irons, a mousetrap, and steam pumps. He claimed to have invented the light bulb before Thomas Edison. But he is best known for inventing the Maxim gun, the world's 1st automatic firearm, in 1884. It was used by the British to conquer Africa, and led to a poem: "Thank the Lord, for we have got/the Maxim gun, and they have not."
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1914: William S. Burroughs. A genius of a writer, but he wasn't just making up a title when he titled a memoir Junky. Like Norman Mailer and O.J. Simpson, he tried to kill his wife. Like Simpson but unlike Mailer, he succeeded, and got away with it.
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1934: Don Cherry. No relation to the jazz trumpeter of the same name, he was a questionable coach for the Boston Bruins, getting them into back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals but losing both.
As a commentator for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, he dressed like a Batman villain. His remarks at how European players, especially Swedish ones, weren't tough enough bordered on racism. Finally, he seemed to get to a point where he didn't care how bigoted he sounded, and had to be fired.
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1968: Roberto Alomar. He's in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but what kind of person are you when spitting on an umpire isn't even close to the worst thing you've ever done?
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1969: Bobby Brown. I don't care how good he was with New Edition and on his own: If it wasn't for him, Whitney Houston would probably still be alive.
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1984: Carlos Tevez. And...
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1985: Cristiano Ronaldo. And...
Dishonorable Mention: February 5, 1992: Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior. Dive, dive, dive, all three of you.
10. February 5, 1723: John Witherspoon. Presbyterian minister, an early President of Princeton University, and the only clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration of Independence. Sadly, also a slaveholder. (It was still legal in New Jersey until 1804.)
9. February 5, 1943: Nolan Bushnell. He founded Atari. I'm not sure I should thank him for giving me years of fun, or curse him for costing me thousands of dollars, most of it in quarters.
8. February 5, 1948: Sven-Göran Eriksson. Ah, well, ah, he wasn't much of a player as a right back in his native Sweden. But he became one of European soccer's greatest managers. He led IFK Göteborg (written as "Gothenburg" in English) to the 1982 Allsvenskan (Swedish national league) title, Benfica to 3 titles in Portugal's Primeira Liga, and Rome team Lazio to the 2000 Serie A title.
He could not, however, duplicate that success at the national team level. He managed England to the World Cup Quarterfinals in 2002 and 2006, but could get no further. He has also managed the national teams of Mexico, the Ivory Coast and the Philippines. But he remains popular as a studio analyst on British soccer broadcasts.
7. February 5, 1919: Red Buttons. Although he was one of the top comic actors of his generation, he won an Oscar for his role in the 1957 film Sayanora.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1906: John Carradine. Founder of an acting dynasty, he is best known for his role in The Grapes of Wrath.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1940: H.R. Giger. The Swiss artist has created some of the most iconic and disturbing images in film history, including the Xenomorph, the titular creator of the Alien franchise.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1946: Charlotte Rampling. One of the top British actresses of the 1960s and '70s.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1948: Christopher Guest. Best known as Nigel Tufnel of Spın̈al Tap, he was part of the cast of Saturday Night Live during its best season, 1984-85, usually paired with Billy Crystal. Such pairings included Frankie to Billy's Willie (the "I hate when that happens!" sketch), Spanish ventriloquist Señor Cosa to Billy's Joe Franklin, and retired Negro League pitcher King Carl Johnson to Billy's Leonard "the Rooster" Willoughby in one of the best mockumentaries the show has ever done.
He is a British peer: The 5th Baron Haden-Guest. He is also married to actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who says she only uses her title as "Lady Haden-Guest" to get into exclusive London restaurants.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1948: Barbara Hershey. I first saw her as serial killer Harriet Bird in The Natural. Her roles in Hannah and Her Sisters and Beaches over the next few years launched her to stardom.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1961: Tim Meadows. Another Saturday Night Live veteran, his 9 years on the show (1991-2000) were, at the time, a record. His best-known character on the show was Leon Phelps, host of the radio show The Ladies' Man.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1962: Jennifer Jason Leigh. The daughter of actress Vic Morrow, she's starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Miami Blues, Single White Female and The Hateful Eight. She played writer Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, and Lady Bird Johnson to Woody Harrelson's Lyndon in LBJ.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1964: Laura Linney. She's played 2 First Ladies: Abigail Adams and Florence Harding. But she's probably best known as Mary Ann Singleton in the film adaptations of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City books.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1969: Michael Sheen. He's played Oedipus, Nero, Hamlet, Romeo, King Henry V, Peer Gynt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, H.G. Wells, Sigmund Freud, William Masters (of Masters & Johnson), Brian Clough, David Frost, Tony Blair (3 times), and the Devil himself.
6. February 5, 1903: Joan Whitney Payson. A member of the influential Whitney family, she was the founding owner of the New York Mets from 1962 until her death in 1975.
5. February 5, 1941: Stephen J. Cannell. After getting his start writing for TV shows like Ironside, Adam-12 and Columbo, he began creating and producing his own TV shows. They included The Rockford Files, Baretta, Baa Baa Black Sheep, The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Hunter, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, The Commish and Renegade.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1943: Michael Mann. The executive producer of the TV series Miami Vice, he also directed the 1992 version of The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and The Insider.
4. February 5, 1929: Hal Blaine. He was the most-recorded musician in history, and he had the W-2 forms to prove it. If it was a hit record made in Los Angeles in the 1960s, chances are 50-50 that he drummed on it.
From 1962 to 1976, he drummed on 39 Number 1 hits, including all 3 of the Beach Boys' (Dennis Wilson wasn't a very good drummer), "Mr. Tambourine Man,""I Got You Babe,""Eve of Destruction,""Monday, Monday,""Aquarius,""Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "The Way We Were."
His chart-toppers included Frank Sinatra's "Strangers In the Night," daughter Nancy's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," their duet "Somethin' Stupid," and Frank's pal Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody."
His chart-toppers did not include "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, as he was the main drummer on most of the singles produced by Phil Spector (but not on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers, that was Earl Palmer); or "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris, both of which he drummed on and "only" reached Number 2.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1941: Barrett Strong. His "Money (That's What I Want)" was the 1st hit song for what became the Motown empire. Most of his work at Motown was in writing songs, mostly with Norman Whitfield especially for The Temptations, including "I Can't Get Next to You,""Ball of Confusion" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone."
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1944: Al Kooper. He wrote "This Diamond Ring," which hit Number 1 for Gary Lewis & the Playboys -- and on which Hal Blaine drummed. And he played organ on Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," despite never having played the instrument before. And that was just in the Spring of 1965.
Since then, in addition to working with Dylan many times, he's played on, or produced, or both, The Who (he played the organ opening on "Baba O'Riley"), Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Lynyrd Skynyrd (he produced their 1st 3 albums), ex-Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Roy Orbison (on his last album, Mystery Girl) and Neil Diamond.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1964: Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan. The bass guitarist for Guns N' Roses.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1971: Sara Evans. One of the top country singers of my generation.
3. February 5, 1942: Roger Staubach. The quarterback won the Heisman Trophy with the U.S. Naval Academy in 1963, and led the Dallas Cowboys to 4 Super Bowls, winning 2 of them. His late-game heroics earned him the nickname "Captain Comeback." His scrambling earned him the nickname "Roger the Dodger." And the Cowboys' false status as "America's Team" got him (you'll notice I didn't say, "earned him") the nickname "Captain America."
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1932: Cesare Maldini. A star defender for AC Milan, he helped them win 5 Serie A (Italian national soccer league) titles, and the 1963 European Cup (the tournament now known as the UEFA Champions League. His son Paolo also starred for Milan, and became one of the greatest left backs of all time. His grandson, Paolo's son Daniel, plays midfield for Milan now.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1937: Larry Hillman. A defenseman, he won Stanley Cups with 3 different teams: The 1955 Detroit Red Wings, the 1964 and 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs, and the 1969 Montreal Canadiens. In 1976, he played on the Winnipeg Jets team that won the WHA Championship, the Avco Cup. In 1978, he coached them to it.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1943: Craig Morton. Hard to believe, given the successes of Staubach and Don Meredith, but he was the 1st quarterback to take the Dallas Cowboys into a Super Bowl. But he lost Super Bowl V, and was replaced by Staubach. He went to the Denver Broncos, and was the 1st quarterback to get them there, too. But he lost Super Bowl XII -- to Staubach and the Cowboys.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1955: Mike Heath. As a rookie in 1978, he was Thurman Munson's backup as the catcher for the New York Yankees. Given Munson's injuries, it's safe to say the Yankees would not have made the Playoffs, much less won the World Series, without him.
He later played against the Yankees in the 1981 American League Championship Series, with the Oakland Athletics. In 1989, with the Detroit Tigers, he led AL catchers in assists and double plays.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1965: Gheorghe Hagi. The greatest soccer player ever produced by Romania, "Regele" (The King) led capital team Steaua București to the Divizia A (national league) title in 1987, 1988 and 1989, and took his national team to the Quarterfinals of the 1994 World Cup.
The midfielder led Istanbul team Galatasaray to the Turkish Süper Lig title 4 straight times, 1997 to 2000. Gala fans called him "Comandante" (The Commander).
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1975: Giovanni van Bronckhorst. His first name is Italian, and his last name sounds more German than Dutch. But he might be the best defender the Netherlands has ever produced. The Rotterdam native led hometown team Feyenoord to the KNVB Beker (the Dutch version of the FA Cup) in 1995, and Glasgow team Rangers to the Scottish Premier League title in 1999 and 2000.
He was stuck as a reserve for North London team Arsenal, but still helped them win The Double (the Premier League and the FA Cup) in 2002, and another FA Cup in 2003. He helped Barcelona win Spain's La Liga in 2005 and 2006, and the UEFA Champions League in 2006. He returned to Feyenoord and won another KNVB Beker in 2008, and he captained his national side to the 2010 World Cup Final. He managed Feyenoord to the Beker in 2016 and 2018, and to the Eredivisie (Dutch national league) title in 2017. He is now back at Rangers, as their manager.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1977: Adam Everett. He isn't nearly on the level of these others, but, in this case, it's personal: I saw him play for the Trenton Thunder in New Jersey in 1999, helping them reach the Eastern League Playoffs. A shortstop, he played 11 seasons in the major leagues, including for the Houston Astros in the 2005 World Series.
2. February 5, 1900: Adlai Stevenson. The grandson and namesake of Grover Cleveland's 2nd Vice President, he was elected Governor of New York in 1948. The Democratic Party nominated him for President in 1952 and 1956. He served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 until his death in 1965. His challenge to Soviet Representative Valerian Zorin at the U.N. during the Cuban Missile Crisis kept most of the world on America's side.
Honorable Mention: February 5, 1959: Jennifer Granholm. Elected Governor of Michigan in 2002 and 2006, she is now the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
1. February 5, 1934: Hank Aaron. ESPN just ranked him the Number 3 baseball player of all time, behind Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. And as great as he was as a player, he was a better person.
Still alive as of this writing: Cherry, Alomar, Brown, Tevez, Ronaldo, Neymar, Bushnell, Eriksson, Rampling, Guest, Hershey, Meadows, Leigh, Linney, Sheen, Mann, Strong, Kooper, McKagan, Evans, Staubach, Hillman, Morton, Heath, Hagi, van Bronckhorst, Granholm.