February 13th

In addition to Chuck Yeager mentioned just below, today is the birthday

… of Kim Novak. Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton (Vertigo) and Madge Owens (Picnic) is 78.

… of George Segal. Jack Gallo (Just Shoot Me) and Nick (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) is 77.

… of Carol Lynley. Nonnie Parry (The Poseidon Adventure) and Janet Willard (Blue Denim) is 69.

… of Peter Tork of the Monkees. He’s 69.

… of Jerry Springer. He’s 67.

… of Stockard Channing. Abbey Bartlet (West Wing) and Louisa (‘Ouisa’) Kittredge (Six Degrees of Separation) is 67.

… of Mike Krzyzewski. The Duke coach is 64 today.

… of Peter Gabriel. He’s 61.

… of Randy Moss. Done it seems at 34.

William Shockley, who shared in a Nobel Prize for Physics for his role in creating the transistor, was born on this date in 1910. The transistor is the component on which the electronic age is based — we call them semi-conductors and you’re using a whole lot of them to create this page. Shockley earned even more fame for arguing for genetic differences among races — at one point calling for monetary awards if the “genetically disadvantaged” voluntarily underwent sterilization.

Pauline Frederick, the first woman to be a major correspondent for network news, was born on this date in 1908. (She died in 1990.) Frederick was the first woman to win the Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting.

Grant Wood was born on this date in 1891. That’s his “American Gothic.”