# Historical significance of your birthday **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607 "2012-05-31T01:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/41 "2012-05-31T13:29:13Z")
Groundhog Day ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/42 "2012-05-31T13:42:07Z")
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, many years before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/43 "2012-05-31T13:49:52Z")
Not much out of the ordinary. Occasionally (like this year) it coincides with Mothers’ Day. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/44 "2012-05-31T13:54:47Z")
A lot of cool things occurred on October 14: The Battle of Hastings, 1066. The Battle of Old Byland, 1322. Robert the Bruce defeats King Edward II. Apparently, because of the switch to the Gregorian calendar, for the year 1582 this day (along with the 9 days preceding it) does not exist in Italy, Portugal, Poland, and Spain. George Eastman receives a US patent for photographic film, 1884. The Cubs win their last World Series, 1908. _Winnie-the-Pooh_ is first published on this day, 1926. Nazi Germany withdraws from the League of Nations, 1933. Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier, 1947. The beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. Jim Hines breaks the “10-second barrier,” running the 100-meter dash in 9.95 seconds at the Mexico City Summer Games, 1968. The birth of me, 1977. The [Steve Bartman Incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bartman_incident), 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/45 "2012-05-31T13:57:53Z")
Groundhog Day ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/46 "2012-05-31T14:10:27Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Groundhog Day I see what you did there. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/47 "2012-05-31T14:15:45Z")
Not a damn thing. But I feel better knowing that Robert Frost, Diana Ross, Sterling Hayden, Joseph Campbell, Tennessee Williams, Strother Martin, Sandra Day O’Connor, Leonard Nimoy, Nancy Pelosi, Richard Dawkins, Vicki Lawrence, Teddy Pendergrass, Martin Short, Jennifer Grey, and Kenny Chesney all feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/48 "2012-05-31T14:27:02Z")
Both Dakotas admitted to the Union. Only flight of Howard Hughes’ _Spruce Goose_. The Balfour Declaration. MLK day established as a federal holiday. A mixed bag. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/49 "2012-05-31T14:33:03Z")
I was born on the day “Perry Mason” premiered, and Olav V became King of Norway. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/50 "2012-05-31T14:38:01Z")
[Loads](http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/may_16.html) But I like this one being Scottish 1568 Mary Queen of Scotland flees to England ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/51 "2012-05-31T14:44:46Z")
Nothing of cultural significance happened on the actual day of my birth, but these events happened in other years: -Big Ben started keeping time -Madison Square Garden opened -The hull of the Titanic was launched -Adolf Eichmann was hanged -Vanity Fair revealed the identity of Deep Throat -Tito Puente died Plus, I share a birthday with Clint Eastwood, Joe Namath, Brooke Shields and Colin Farrell. And it happens to be today. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/52 "2012-05-31T15:04:35Z")
I don’t think I’ve looked this stuff up recently. Let’s see: Anne Boleyn is beheaded so Henry VIII can take a whack at yet another woman (1536) Parliament declares England a commonwealth (1649) Mexico cedes California, Utah, Nevada, and other territory to the U.S. as the Mexican-American War ends (1848) Turkish War of Independence begins (1919) I knew I share a birthday with historical figures including Malcolm X, Ho Chi Minh, Pete Townshend and Kevin Garnett, but Wikipedia reminds me that Pol Pot was also born on May 19. So were Johns Hopkins and Joey Ramone. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/53 "2012-05-31T15:14:04Z")
You guys do realize that you’ve just revealed your birthdays on the internet, right? It’s a rather dangerous question to answer - like those “Movie Star Name” type quizzes that just happen to coincide with the types of confirmation questions websites use for password security. I’m not accusing the OP, but these are classic social engineering techniques. Regardless of the OP’s or anyone else’s intentions, your answers could be used for evil. It amazes me how often these things get by on the Dope, of all places. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/54 "2012-05-31T15:18:27Z")
What’s someone gonna do, send me a cake made with stuff I don’t like? By the way, I hate, hate, hate vanilla cake with keylime buttercream frosting, so whatever you do, don’t send me one on Groundhog Day, which for the record is February 2. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/55 "2012-05-31T15:21:43Z")
It was Thanksgiving, so…a day of national turkey murdering. So sad. But a turkey dies, a turkey is born…circle of life. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/56 "2012-05-31T15:23:54Z")
On the day of my birth: > [@](#): > > Citing U.S. Congressman Chet Holifield of California as their source, Miami News columnists Robert S. Allen and Paul Scott, broke the frightening story that the Soviet Union planned to nuke the Moon. Firing nuclear-tipped rockets at Earth’s satellite in 1961 and 1962, the Soviets would use the explosions on the lunar surface for scientific purposes, with the goal of landing a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon by 1965 Plus, Dan Marino was born. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/57 "2012-05-31T15:31:59Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > You guys do realize that you’ve just revealed your birthdays on the internet, right? It’s a rather dangerous question to answer - like those “Movie Star Name” type quizzes that just happen to coincide with the types of confirmation questions websites use for password security. > > I’m not accusing the OP, but these are classic social engineering techniques. Regardless of the OP’s or anyone else’s intentions, your answers could be used for evil. It amazes me how often these things get by on the Dope, of all places. :smack: It’s not that hard to find out someone’s birthday. If that knowledge gives someone the ability to rob us blind, we’re already doomed. We might as well go ahead and build Thunderdome. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/58 "2012-05-31T15:42:51Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, many years before I was born. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, on the actual day I was born. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/59 "2012-05-31T15:48:27Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Plus, I share a birthday with Clint Eastwood, Joe Namath, Brooke Shields and Colin Farrell. And it happens to be today. 😃 Happy birthday! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607/60 "2012-05-31T15:49:32Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > You guys do realize that you’ve just revealed your birthdays on the internet, right? It’s a rather dangerous question to answer - like those “Movie Star Name” type quizzes that just happen to coincide with the types of confirmation questions websites use for password security. > > I’m not accusing the OP, but these are classic social engineering techniques. Regardless of the OP’s or anyone else’s intentions, your answers could be used for evil. It amazes me how often these things get by on the Dope, of all places. :smack: I think you need to take your anti-paranoia med. Telling people that my birthday is May 13th reveals nothing, especially since I’m not using my real name. With the year attached, it might give somebody a tidbit of useful information, but then we’re not doing that, are we? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-significance-of-your-birthday/623607.md?page=4)