10. February 11, 1909: Max Baer. A story that I hope is true: A sportswriter walked into a gym, and saw Max there. The writer wasn't Jewish, and neither was Max, but the writer thought Max was, and knew the day was Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. He asked Max what he's doing there. Max said, "I'm training to fight Primo Carnera." The writer asked, "What about Yom Kippur?" Max said, "I'll fight him next!"
Max knocked Carnera out on June 14, 1934, to win the Heavyweight Championship of the World. He held it for only 1 year, but that's more than most people will hold it for. He lost it on June 13, 1935, to James Braddock, "The Cinderella Man." (Contrary to the film of that title, Max was a nice guy who felt terrible about having killed a man in the ring.) His son, Max Baer Jr., was part of the cast of The Beverly Hillbillies.
Somewhat Honorable Mention: February 11, 1972: Steve McManaman. The winger was one of the "Spice Boys" at Liverpool FC in the late 1990s, big talk, middling results. He had to go to Spain to win a national league title. Nevertheless, few Englishmen have ever done so well with a team in continental Europe: In 2002, with Real Madrid, he became the 1st English soccer player to win the European Cup/UEFA Champions League with a team from outside England.
He is now a studio analyst for soccer. When the U.S. played England in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he predicted a 3-1 win for England. The game ended in a 1-1 draw because England goalkeeper Rob Green let a Clint Dempsey shot through his fingers, what became known as the "Hand of Clod" play. And ABC's Mike Tirico told network control, "I was just explaining to 'Macca' who Bill Buckner is."
9. February 11, 1962: Sheryl Crow. She's from Kennett, in "the Bootheel of Missouri," closer to Memphis than to St. Louis. If the Mississippi River, from Bob Dylan and Prince in Minneapolis, down through St. Louis and Memphis, to Louis Armstrong and every other performer in New Orleans, is America’s Musical Superhighway, then she’s done her part, winning 9 Grammy Awards.
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1979: Brandy Norwood. Sister of Ray J, and a cousin of Snopp Dogg, Nate Dogg and Sasha Banks, she was one of the top young singers at the turn of the 21st Century, and also starred in the UPN sitcom Moesha. She now stars on the ABC drama Queens.
7. February 11, 1863: John F. Fitzgerald. A Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts 1895-1901, and again briefly in 1919, he was Mayor of Boston 1906-08 and 1910-14. When Fenway Park opened in 1912, he threw out the ceremonial first ball before the first game.
Today, though, "Honey Fitz" is best known for his 3 grandsons who became U.S. Senators: John Fitzgerald, Robert Francis, and Edward Moore Kennedy. JFK, of course, became President.
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1921: Lloyd Bentsen. He served Texas in both houses of Congress, and was nominated by the Democratic Party for Vice President in 1988. How close a friend of his JFK was can be debated, but he was right about his opposite number in that 1988 race: Dan Quayle was no Jack Kennedy. Bentsen later served as President Bill Clinton's 1st Secretary of the Treasury.
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1962: Tammy Baldwin. The Wisconsin native became the 1st open lesbian elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in 1998; and the 1st elected to the U.S. Senate, in 2012.
Dishonorable Mention: February 11, 1947: Roy Moore. As a federal Judge in Alabama, he put a marble monument to the Ten Commandments on the grounds of his courthouse. That was unconstitutional: Violation of the 1st Amendment's prohibition on an official state religion. Nevertheless, he went on to become his State's Chief Justice.
If that was the worst of it, he wouldn't make this list, even as a Dishonorable Mention. But when he ran in a special election for the U.S. Senate in 2017, it was revealed that this great self-appointed moralist had committed immoral acts against women, some of them underage. And still, 48 percent of his State's voters wanted him in the U.S. Senate, because he hates the same people he hates. To Hell with him.
Dishonorable Mention: February 11, 1953: Jeb Bush. John Ellis Bush stole a Presidential election. To Hell with him.
Dishonorable Mention: February 11, 1964: Sarah Palin. She wasn't the 1st Republican politician to revel in anti-intellectualism. Nor was she the last. And she hasn't even been the dumbest. And, to be fair, she never said she could see Russia from her house.
What she did say was that, from a point on land in Alaska, on a clear day, you can see a point on land in Russia. Which is true. That wasn't the problem. The problem was, she used it as a foreign policy credential. Dumb Dora is so dumb, she makes Dan Quayle seem like Jack Kennedy.
7. February 11, 1926: Leslie Nielsen. Before he appeared in Airplane! and went on to become the king of spoof movies, he was a fine dramatic actor. As the man himself would say, "I am serious, and don't call me 'Shirley.'" In fact, until Star Trek came along, science fiction was said to have peaked with Forbidden Planet, essentially William Shakespeare's The Tempest in space, and he starred in it.
6. February 11, 1909: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. He won the Academy Award for Best Director in back-to-back years, for A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve. He also produced several Oscar-winning films.
5. February 11, 1969: Jennifer Aniston. The daughter of longtime Days of Our Lives actor John Aniston and 1960s Western actress Nancy Dow, she could win an Oscar someday, and people will still remember her as Rachel Green on Friends. (There was also a Rachel Greene, with an E on the end, on another Thursday night show on NBC: The daughter of Dr. Mark Greene on ER, played by Hallee Hirsh.)
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1982: Natalie Dormer. She’s played 3 queens: A younger version of Elizabeth the Queen Mother in W.E., Anne Boleyn on The Tudors, and Margaery Tyrell on Game of Thrones.
4. February 11, 1939: Gerry Goffin. With his then-wife, Carole King, he wrote "Will You Love Me Tomorrow,""Take Good Care of My Baby,""Some Kind of Wonderful,""Chains,""Keep Your Hands Off My Baby,""The Loco-Motion,""Go Away Little Girl,""Up On the Roof,""Hey Girl" and "One Fine Day." All that within 3 years. Later, "I'm Into Something Good,""Just Once In My Life,""Don't Bring Me Down,""Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "A Natural Woman."
After splitting with Carole, he co-wrote "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love,""Saving All My Love for You" and "Miss You Like Crazy." He and Carole were elected to the non-performers wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1935: Gene Vincent. Perhaps the 1st singer signed as another company's version of RCA Victor's Elvis Presley, Gene and his band The Blue Caps were signed to Capitol Records. "Be-Bop-a-Lula" became a legendary recording, but he never really followed it up, and his drinking, curtailed first his career, then his life.
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1941: Sérgio Mendes. One of the men who brought Brazil's bossa nova jazz sound to the world.
Honorable Mention: February 11, 1977: Mike Shinoda. He's the lead singer of the rock band Linkin Park.
3. February 11, 1936: Burt Reynolds. An injury at Florida State ended his football career, unless you count the movies The Longest Yard and Semi-Tough. He had a few TV roles in the 1960s, and then, from 1972 to 1984, he was perhaps the biggest movie star in the world. He later starred in the sitcom Evening Shade as a high school football coach.
2. February 11, 1898: Leó Szilárd. The Hungarian physicist came up with the idea of a nuclear chain reaction, patented the idea of a nuclear fission reactor, and composed Albert Einstein's 1939 letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt that told him he'd better have America build a nuclear bomb before Nazi Germany did. FDR took "The Einstein-Szilard Letter" seriously, and the Manhattan Project was born.
1. February 11, 1847: Thomas Alva Edison. A hero of innovation, a villain of business. In both ways, he can be said to have invented the 20th Century.
Still alive as of this writing: McManaman, Crow, Norwood, Baldwin, Moore, Bush, Palin, Aniston, Dormer, Mendes, Shinoda.