Things about your date of birth

[Alex]

I was messing around on Wikipedia a second ago, and suddenly found out that you can just look up individual dates of the year.

Now I've known a couple of things about my date of birth, July 11th (I'm counting all July 11th's btw, as in 1974 nothing interesting happened at all!), but not that much, and I've just found it fascinating. Here's the link to mine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_11th - there's links to every other day of the year at the bottom of the page.

And I didn't know that: I share my birthday with Craig Charles and Lex Luthor from TV's Smallville, It's known as World Population Day (god knows what that is though), and in Zimbabwe it's National Dance Day, it's a good day for having novels published (A Tale of Two Cities in 1859, and To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960), in 1405 Chinese fleet commander Zheng He set sail to explore the world for the first time, and in 1962 the first transatlantic satellite television transmission took place. There's also lots of other stuff that is a bit on the dull side, but I found really interesting anyway(!).

So, erm, yeah, anyhoo, anyone else fancy spilling the beans about their date of birth?

[Andrew Curnow]

commander Zheng

Wasn't he in "Spare Parts"?

Well, my birthday is 29th June, and I don't think I ever knew about anything interesting happening on that date. Until now...

The Globe Theatre burned down, in 1613

Ray Harryhausen was born in 1920

Amanda Donohoe was born in 1962 - I wouldn't mind getting a birthday kiss from her (or indeed giving her one)

Fatty Arbuckle died 1933

Andrew gets a Palitoy X-Wing fighter in 1979

There's lots more, but when I tell you that those are the most interesting ones, I think it confirms what a generally dull day 29th June is (except for the last one, which was tremendously exciting)!

[Captain Tancredi]

Apparently I was born the exact same day (July 5th) as:

1972 - Letha Weapons, porn actress

And you never see the two of us in the same place.

I also knew about Phineas T Barnum (believe me, that fits) but there also seem to be a remarkable number of footballers- Zola, Crespo, Allback, Petrov and Gilardino.

Amelie Mauresmo is also an interesting (if rather more masculine) one. Having a Manx uncle, I've also known for years that it was Tynwald Day, the national day of the Isle of Man.

[Pip Madeley]

August 27th:

982 BC - Beer was invented in Bavaria [I doubt they got it down to the exact date but hey, cool!]

1883 - Krakatoa, an Indonesian volcano, erupts. It is one of the most violent volcanic events in modern times.

1896 - Anglo-Zanzibar War: the shortest war in world history (9:02 to 9:40) between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar.

1990 - BBC Radio Five Live launches at 9am GMT with a mixture of sports, news, and children's programming.

2003 - Mars makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, passing approximately 34,646,416 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from Earth.

And I share my birthday with Reece Shearsmith (League of Gentlemen), Peter Ebdon (snooker player) and Alex Lifeson (of Rush).

[Lissa]

My birthday is most famous for Maradona's "hand of god" goal against England and the start of Operation Barbarossa, only one of which ultimately changed the destiny of the world for the better.

Sharing my birthday are the actor Bruce Campbell, the author Dan Brown and the former (and hopefully future) heavyweight champion of the UFC, Randy Couture.

Dying on my birthday were Judy Garland, Fred Astaire and Moose (the dog from Frasier).

It is also national school teachers day in El Salvador.

[Jason Thompson]

It seems my birthday, October 11th, has a fair few apt connections. Having said that, it is also National Coming Out Day in the US.

Edith piaf died in 1963, but I can honestly say I don't recognise any of the other names on the death list for that date. However....

As well as sharing my birthday with the fictional character Fox Mulder, I share it with:

Henry Heinz, of the 57 varieties (1844)
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884)
Bobby Charlton (1937)
John Nettles (1943)
Dawn French (1957)
Neil Buchanan, of Art Attack fame (1961)
Luke Perry (1965)
Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn in Buffy) (1985)

Oh, and some actress called Nicola Bryant. Was she in anything good?

Events wise, in 1811 the first steam powered ferry, the Juliana, began service; the University of Sydney was inaugurated in 1852; Franklin D Roosevelt received a letter from a certain Albert Einstein about the possibilities of an atomic bomb in 1939; and in 1982 the Mary Rose was raised.

Of particular interest to me is that October 11th 1958 saw the launch of the first Pioneer satellite, although it never made orbit and burned up. More happily, in 1968 Apollo 7 sent the first manned Apollo spacecraft into Earth orbit for a highly successful shakedown cruise that opened the way for Apollo 8 to go to the Moon two months later. In 1982 Kathryn D Sullivan exited the shuttle Challenger and became the first American woman to make a spacewalk, and in 2000 Discovery took off on the 100th shuttle flight.

1975 saw Planet Of Evil part 3 shown, and in 1980 Meglos part 3 was shown on my 1st birthday. Trial Of A Time Lord came along on my birthday in 1986, which I did watch, and then part 2 of Ghost Light in 1989, which I didn't.

And finally and somewhat obscurely, there is no such date as October 11th 1582 in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Poland due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar.

[Alex]

Moose (the dog from Frasier)

Aw. I didn't know he'd died. For some reason I like to believe that all tv animals go on for year and years after their shows end...

[Larry]

not a lot seems to of happened on 19th July but I did find these events on the BBC history site that happened on that day.


1545: - The Tudor warship 'Mary Rose' capsizes and sinks off Portsmouth with the loss of up to 500 men.

1843: - Brunel's steamship Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going ship with an iron hull.

1940: - Germany's Adolf Hitler makes a 'peace offer' to Britain, which Winston Churchill rejects outright.

[Si Hunt]

On my birthday in various previous years, Windows 95 was launched, Mount Vesuvious first erupted, John Lennon's murderer was sentenced (events of great chaos all) and Crisps were invented!

I share my birthday with Rupert Grint (from Harry Potter), Stephen Fry and Jean-Michel Jarre!

Si.

[Antony Cox]

June 20th On this day..

1819 - The U.S. vessel Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, most of the journey was made under sail.
1837 - Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
1877 - Alexander Graham Bell installs world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
1893 - Lizzie Borden is acquitted of murdering her stepmother and father.
1963 - The so-called "red telephone" is established between Soviet Union and United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
1991 - German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.
2003 - Formation of Wikimedia Foundation announced.

Births:

1909 - Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
1931 - Martin Landau, American actor
1942 - Brian Wilson, American musician; founder of The Beach Boys
1949 - Lionel Richie, American musician (The Commodores)
1952 - John Goodman, American actor
1960 - John Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
1967 - Nicole Kidman, American-born Australian actress
1978 - Frank Lampard, English footballer

[Trudi G]

On May 17th...
1792 - The New York Stock Exchange is formed.
1846 - The saxophone is patented by Adolphe Sax.
1918 - Almost the entire leadership of Sinn Fin are arrested
1973 - Watergate scandal: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.
1998 - David Wells of the New York Yankees pitches the 15th perfect game in baseball history against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium.
2004 - Massachusetts becomes the first state in the United States to legalize Same-sex marriage


And i share my birthday with
1935 - Dennis Potter, English writer (d. 1994)
1961 - Enya, Irish singer and songwriter
and a load of people i've never heard of....

[Kaybee Bailey]

March 15th, lets see:

Share a birthday with Mikel Forssell, Antti Autti and a variety of other people who aren't Finnish.

In 1976 it was the day an IRA bomb went off on a Tube train and the train driver was shot dead by the escaping bomber.

In fictional events, it was the day Xena and Gabrielle were crucified, apparently, in 44BC.

[Andrew Curnow]

it was the day Xena and Gabrielle were crucified, apparently, in 44BC

For some reason I heard matey from The Fast Show when I read that. "The day there were crucified in 44BC. Which was nice."

[Alex]

Is that how Xena Warrior Princess ended then???

[Matthew T]

On my birthday:

660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
1808 - Anthracite coal first burned as fuel, experimentally.
1895 - The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.
1990 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.

I only really remember the last one.

Sharing my birthday:

Leslie Nielsen, Mary Quant, Burt Reynolds, Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Aniston, Brandy Norwood, Kelly Rowland.

[Kaybee Bailey]

Is that how Xena Warrior Princess ended then???

I think they actually died about halfway through the series... I never really watched it but I don't think this refers to the end, as far as I know they died a few times each!

[Pip Madeley]

I'm sure several people died inside a little whilst watching it.

[Jonno]

I know that I was born on the 25th anniversary of D-Day, but let's see what else I can dig up :

1844 - The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London

1912 - Eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins. Second largest volcanic eruption in historic time.

1933 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States.

1968 - Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Los Angeles Palestinian resident Sirhan B. Sirhan after giving a speech at the Ambassador Hotel.

1969 - The first Internet connection was created when network control protocol packets were sent from the data port of one IMP to another (Well, what about that, this is my day of birth and I never knew that!!)

Sharing my birthdate :

1947 - Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer (never heard of him, but what a name!!)

1956 - Bjrn Borg, Swedish tennis player

[Dirk Gently]

Amanda Donohoe was born in 1962 - I wouldn't mind getting a birthday kiss from her (or indeed giving her one)

And a kiss!


8th October.
1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain. I knew I'd missed placed something.
1856 - The Second Opium War between several western powers and China begins with the Arrow Incident on the Pearl River. Well we all know about that incident.

1918 - World War I - In the Argonne Forest in France, United States Corporal Alvin C. York almost single-handedly kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132. I don't care who you are, that takes balls!

1978 - Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.60mph at Blowering Dam, Australia. That's fast on any surface.

2003 - Film star Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes the Governor of California. Previous Governor Gray Davis is ousted three years before the official end of his office term as a result.

2004 - Martha Stewart goes to jail.

Wow, great things have happened recently on this day haven't they.


People I share my birthday with.
1928 - Bill Maynard
1932 - Ray Reardon
1939 - Paul Hogan
1943 - Chevy Chase
1949 - Sigourney Weaver
1954 - Michael Dudikoff
1965 - Ardal O'Hanlon
1970 - Matt Damon
1979 - Kristanna Loken

From the BBC link, on this day in history.
1952: Many die as three trains crash at Harrow
At least 85 people are killed in the UK's worst peacetime rail crash after three trains collide at Harrow and Wealdstone.

2005: Powerful quake hits South Asia
Many hundreds of people die in Pakistan, north India and Afghanistan following a massive quake.

1987: Zeebrugge disaster was no accident
The coroner's inquest jury into the capsizing of the Herald of Free Enterprise returns verdicts of unlawful killing.

1973: Commercial radio joins UK airwaves
Britain's first independent radio station begins broadcasting on VHF and medium wave.

1990: Britain's first full day in ERM
Hectic trading in the City marks Britain's first day as a full member of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) of the European Monetary System.

Why is it that there seems to be so many disasters on my birthday?

[Alex]

I'm sure several people died inside a little whilst watching it.

[Milky Tears]

I'm sure I made a post on this thread on Saturday afternoon!?

[Stuart Wallis]

April 23rd

Events
1348 - The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III of England is announced on St George's Day.
1533 - The Church of England annuls the marriage between Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII of England.
1597 - Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance.
1968 - The United Kingdom produces its first decimalised coins, a 5p and a 10p coin.
1988 - Pink Floyd's legendary album Dark Side Of The Moon, after spending the record total of 741 consecutive weeks (over 14 years) on the Billboard 200, left the charts for its first time ever.

Births
1564 - William Shakespeare
1791 - James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States
1895 - Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand writer
1936 - Roy Orbison, American singer and musician
1939 - Lee Majors

Deaths
303 - Saint George, Roman soldier and Christian martyr
1016 - Ethelred the Unready
1616 - William Shakespeare
1850 - William Wordsworth
1915 - Rupert Brooke
1975 - William Hartnell
2005 - Sir John Mills