Honorable Mention: February 6, 1665: Queen Anne of England. On the throne from 1702 until her death in 1714, she was one of the great modernizers of her country's history, taking it from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland into a United Kingdom of Great Britain. But without a surviving child, she was the last monarch of the House of Stuart.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1695: Nicolaus Bernoulli. One of the great mathematicians of his time, and the all-time leading theoretician of probability.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1980: Luke Ravenstahl. He's the grandson of a Pennsylvania State legislator, the brother of another, and the son of a District Magistrate. In 2003, he won an upset victory for Pittsburgh City Council. In 2005, as a compromise candidate, he was elected by the Council to be its President. In 2006, Mayor Bob O'Connor died in office, making Ravenstahl, at 26, the youngest big-city Mayor in the country.
He won election for the rest of O'Connor's term in 2007, and then a term in his own right in 2009. When the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens in the Playoffs, as a publicity stunt -- he called himself a cheerleader for the city -- he filed papers in court to temporarily change his name from "Ravenstahl" to "Steelerstahl."
He secured some filming for the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in Pittsburgh, including a scene at the Steelers' Heinz Field, with some Steelers players. Ironically, in the film, Ravenstahl played the kicker for the opposing team, whose kickoff got returned for a touchdown by Steeler Hines Ward for the Gotham Rogues, as Bane's bomb destroys the field behind him.
He did not run for a 2nd full term, due to a few controversies, and is now an executive for an energy company. He's still young enough to have a long political future if he wants it.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: February 6, 1962: Axl Rose. As their lead singer, he made Guns N' Roses my generation's answer to The Doors. They were a Los Angeles-based rock band where you never knew what was going to happen at one of their concerts: They could give you a truly transcendent experience, or the lead singer could start a riot, or he could just go through the motions, or he could not show up at all. At least we never got to hear Jim Morrison write songs about killing women and gay people.
With Velvet Revolver, guitarist Slash showed Axl what Keith Richards showed Mick Jagger: "You need me a lot more than I need you." Axl held the legal rights to the GNR name, though, and the joke was that there would be actual democracy in China before the long-rumored GNR album Chinese Democracy would be released. That didn't happen, and, unlike Brian Wilson's Smile and Prince's Black Album, the wait wasn't worth it.
Jim Morrison died at age 27. Axl has now made it to 60. But which one has the better legacy?
Dishonorable Mention: February 6, 1756: Aaron Burr. And he was dishonorable even before he killed Alexander Hamilton.
Dishonorable Mention: February 6, 1833: J.E.B. Stuart. James Ewell Brown, or "Jeb" Stuart, was the Confederate Army's greatest cavalry leader. Until the Battle of Gettysburg, when his mistakes helped cost the traitors the result. He was killed at the Battle of Yellow Tavern outside Richmond in 1864.
Dishonorable Mention: February 6, 1905: Władysław Gomułka. Twice, he was Communist dictator of Poland: First, right after World War II, helping cement Soviet domination of Eastern Europe; and again after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was crushed, installed to prevent a similar revolution in Poland, ruling with an iron hand until 1970.
Dishonorable Mention: February 6, 1910: Carlos Marcello. The New Orleans-based gangster was the top organized crime boss in America's South from 1947 to 1983. He is believed by many to have been behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, due to having lost his connections in Cuba.
Dishonorable Mention: February 6, 1911: Ronald Reagan. He wasn't a great President, he just played one on TV. He was a disaster, and he was a disgrace, and we're still dealing with the damage he did to this country.
Dishonorable Mention: February 6, 1912: Eva Braun. Pretty much all we know about her is that she loved Adolf Hitler. Isn't that enough?
10. February 6, 1942: Sarah Brady. After her husband, White House Press Secretary Jim Brady, was shot and paralyzed in the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981, she and Jim became America's foremost gun-control advocates. The bill banning assault weapons became known as the Brady Bill, and then the Brady Law.
9. February 6, 1913: Mary Leakey. Husband of Louis and mother of Richard, she may have been the real hero of the Leakey anthropology family, finding the skull of Zinjanthropus boisei and establishing Tanzania as "the Cradle of Humanity."
8. February 6, 1917: Zsa Zsa Gabor. That's pronounced "Zha Zha." Before her image as a weird old lady who'd gotten married a lot of times, she was a beauty queen -- officially: Miss Hungary 1936 -- and one of the most glamorous actresses in the world.
For the record: She was married 9 times, 1 more than Elizabeth Taylor. Her 2nd husband was hotel magnate Conrad Hilton, father of Liz' 1st, Conrad Jr., a.k.a. Nicky. That marriage produced Zsa Zsa's only child, daughter Francesca Hilton. Only her last marriage, to Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, lasted more than 7 years: 1986 until her death in 2016, mere weeks before what would have been her 100th birthday. Francesca predeceased her by a year.
Her sister Eva Gabor, who starred on Green Acres, and shared her tendency to call people "Dahling," married 5 times, never to a man famous in his own right. Zsa Zsa's 3rd husband was actor George Sanders, and he became the 5th and most famous of sister Magda's 6 husbands. Neither Eva nor Magda had any children.
7. February 6, 1922: Patrick Macnee. He starred as John Steed in the 1960s British spy series The Avengers. It should be noted that, while the series made its American debut after the comic book team of the same name did, it debuted in its own country before that.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1914: Thurl Ravenscroft. Yes, that was his real name. You might not know his name, or his face, but you know his voice. His bass voice graced many characters in Disney cartoons, doing it so well that Walt Disney himself asked Thurl to record voiceovers for rides at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
In TV commercials, he was the original voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes ("They're gr-r-r-reat!" and Geoffrey the Giraffe for Toys R Us. But his best-known voice work may be singing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" for the 1966 cartoon that introduced the character, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1925: Walker Edmiston. As with Thurl Ravenscroft, he is better known by voice than name or face. He was the voice of Ernie Keebler, leader of the Keebler Elves in the baked goods commercials. He also provided voices for several kids' TV shows in the 1970s, including H.R. Pufnstuf.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1931: Rip Torn. Born mere days after Charles Elmer Taylor Jr., a.k.a. Rip Taylor, Elmore Rual Torn Jr. couldn't have been more different as an actor, tending to play tough guys and villains.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1931: Mamie Van Doren. She was never as big a "blonde bombshell" as her contemporaries Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, but she outlived them by plenty.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1940: Jimmy Tarbuck. Most Americans won't recognize his name, but in Britain, he is recognized as the classic Scouse comedian and a game-show host. He was a schoolmate of John Lennon.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1944: Michael Tucker. Best known for playing tax attorney Stuart Markowitz on L.A. Law, alongside his real-life wife, Jill Eikenberry, who played Stuart's college and later wife, Ann Kelsey. They've acted together many times.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1957: Kathy Najimy. A classic "second banana," she's been in Soapdish, Sister Act, Hocus Pocus and The Wedding Planner. And she voiced Peggy Hill on King of the Hill.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1957: Robert Townsend. Although he starred in the sitcom The Parent 'Hood, he's better known as a director: Hollywood Shuffle, Eddie Murphy Raw, The Meteor Man and The Five Heartbeats.
6. February 6, 1939: Mike Farrell. Best known for playing Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H, he also played doctors on an episode of Bonanza and the TV series Providence.
5. February 6, 1932: François Truffaut. His 1959 film The 400 Blows launched what became known as French New Wave Cinema.
4. February 6, 1940: Tom Brokaw. He's the only person to have hosted all 3 of NBC's major news programs: The Today Show from 1976 to 1981 (co-hosting with Jane Pauley), The NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004, and Meet the Press briefly in 2008, following the death of Tim Russert.
3. February 6, 1924: Billy Wright. The centreback starred for Wolverhampton Wanderers, leading "Wolves" to 3 Football League titles and an FA Cup, and might have been the best English soccer player of the 1950s. Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, he proved to be a poor manager for that team from 1962 to 1966. Universally admired throughout the sport, a statue of him now stands outside Wolves' Molineux Stadium.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1990: Adam Henrique. A decent center now playing for the Anaheim Ducks, he will forever be remembered for scoring the winning goal in double overtime of Game 6 of the 2012 NHL Eastern Conference Finals, giving the New Jersey Devils the win over the New York Rangers.
2. February 6, 1945: Bob Marley. The man who brought reggae music to the masses, and convinced people all over the world to "Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!"
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1950: Natalie Cole. She had enough hits to ensure that she wouldn't be remembered only as Nat King's daughter.
Honorable Mention: February 6, 1966: Rick Astley. When he was 22 years old, he had multiple Number 1 hits recording for RCA with a distinctive voice and pretty-boy looks. Just like Elvis Presley. And then... Somebody gave him up and let his fans down. Now, he's a meme.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: February 6, 1943: Fabian Forte. Using only his 1st name, he was one of 3 Italian-American singers who crossed from the streets of South Philadelphia to the ABC studio in West Philadelphia to make it big thanks to appearing on American Bandstand. But Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell were both much better singers. Fabian was a nobody at 16, a big star at 17, and a has-been at 18. Eventually, he, Frankie and Bobby would tour the oldies circuit together.
1. February 6, 1895: Babe Ruth. Of course, Number 3 was going to be Number 1. Anybody who reads this blog regularly could have called that shot.
Still alive as of this writing: Ravenstahl, Rose, Van Doren, Tarbuck, Tucker, Najimy, Townsend, Farrell, Brokaw, Henrique, Astley, Forte.