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As predicted, Nostradamus was born on this date in 1503.

But who could have predicted that December 14th would also be the birthday

… of jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player Clark Terry, 91.

Clark Terry performed with Charlie Barnet (1947) and in Count Basie’s big band and small groups (1948-51) before beginning an important affiliation with Duke Ellington, which lasted from 1951 to 1959. During this period Terry took part in many of Ellington’s suites and acquired a lasting reputation for his wide range of styles (from swing to hard bop), technical proficiency, and infectious good humor. After leaving Ellington, he became a frequent performer in New York studios and a staff member of NBC; he appeared regularly on the Tonight Show, where his unique “mumbling” scat singing became famous.

PBS – JAZZ

… of Patty Duke. The Oscar-winning actress is 65.

… of Gabriella. Vanessa Hudgens is 23 today.

Best actress Oscar nominee for Days of Wine and Roses, Lee Remick was born on this date in 1935. She is often remembered too for her performance in the classic film Anatomy of a Murder. Miss Remick died of cancer in 1991.

Don Hewitt, the long-time producer of 60 Minutes was born on this date in 1922. He died in 2009.

Hewitt worked as a copyboy for a New York newspaper for 15 dollars a week, then got a job with a photo agency, and then got hired away by CBS radio — since he had experience with pictures and visual layout — to help produce the new television news programming that the network was trying to launch. It was all brand-new in the 1940s, and Hewitt remembers asking them “What-avision?” He went down to Grand Central Terminal in New York and up to the top floor to take a look at these “little pictures in a box” of which people spoke. He later reminisced, “They also had cameras and lights and makeup artists and stage managers and microphone booms just like in the movies, and I was hooked.” That year, in 1948, he began producing and directing an evening news broadcast for CBS, and he would later become the executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.

On September 24, 1968 Don Hewitt launched his investigative news magazine, 60 Minutes.

The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor (2009)

Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, was born on this date in 1939. Davis played for Syracuse — he was on their undefeated National Championship team as a sophomore in 1959 — and wore the same number as Jim Brown, 44. He was the number one pick in the 1962 NFL draft, selected by the Washington franchise. Davis was the first African-American drafted by the Washington team, and then only under pressure from Stewart Udall who, as Secretary of the Interior, controlled the stadium where the team played. Davis refused to play for Washington, hence the trade to Cleveland. During the summer of 1962 Davis was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia; he died the following May.

Charlie Rich was born on December 14 in 1932. He is remembered best for his hits, “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Most Beautiful Girl.”

Spike Jones was born 100 years ago today as Lindley Armstrong Jones. With his band, the City Slickers, Jones was the known for his satires, most notably “Der Fuehrer’s Face”, “Cocktails for Two” and, of course, “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” number one in 1948.

Frances Bavier was born on this date in 1902. You know, Aunt Bee. She won an Emmy for the role.

Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was the first woman elected to both the House and the Senate and the first whose name was put in nomination for president at a major party convention (Republican 1964).

Congressional Medal of Honor winner Jimmy Doolittle was born on this date in 1896. Doolittle led the daring bombing raid on Tokyo in April 1942. Sixteen B-25s from the U.S.S. Hornet did little damage, but the attack on the Japanese homeland was a major public relations and morale-boosting effort for U.S. forces just five months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

George Washington died at his Mount Vernon home on this date in 1799 at the age of 67. According to the Library of Congress, his last words reportedly were: “I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last long.”

100 years ago today Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting became the first individuals to reach the South Pole. See the NOAA South Pole Live Camera. Bustling place. It looks like they’ll be building a mall there soon.

It’s been 39 years to the day since man last walked on the Moon. Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last, Apollo 17.

And it’s the birthday of Veronica. Happy Birthday, Veronica.

Today is the birthday

… of former Secretary of State George Schultz. He is 91 today.

… of Dick Van Dyke. Rob Petrie is 86. Nine Emmy nominations, four wins.

… of Christopher Plummer. Captain Georg von Trapp is 82. More recently Plummer has been in A Beautiful Mind, Syriana, The Lake House and the voice of the bad guy in Up. Six films in 2005, a couple more in 2006, four in 2007, three more in 2008, seven in 2009 counting voice-overs, and Oscar nomination for The Last Station in 2010. Keep up the good work, young man.

… of Ferguson Jenkins. The baseball hall-of-famer is 68.

Canada’s first Hall of Fame member, Fergie Jenkins used pinpoint control and effectively changed speeds to win 284 games. Cast in the same mold as finesse artists like Catfish Hunter and Robin Roberts, Jenkins forged an impressive 3.34 ERA despite playing 12 of his 19 seasons in hitters’ ballparks – Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. A diligent workhorse, Jenkins used an easy, uncomplicated motion to reach the 20-win mark seven times and capture the National League Cy Young Award in 1971.

National Baseball Hall of Fame

… of Herman Cain, 66.

… of Ted Nugent, 63.

… of Wendie Malick. Just shoot her, she’s 61.

… of Ben Bernanke. The chairman of the Federal Reserve is 58.

… of Steve Buscemi. The actor who portrayed the creepy Tony Blundetto (Tony Soprano’s cousin) and the even creepier Carl Showalter in Fargo is 54.

… of Johnny Whitaker. That would be Buffy’s brother Jody on Family Affair. He’s 52. Kathy Garver, the actress who played his older sister Cissy on that show, is 66 today.

… of coaches and twin brothers Rex and Rob Ryan. They are 98 today.

… of sportscaster Mike Tirico, 45 today.

… of Jamie Foxx. The Oscar-winner is 44.

… of Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini, also 44 today.

… of Taylor Swift, 22.

Mary Ann Todd was born on this date in 1818. After she married in 1842, she was Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln had four sons; three died at ages 3 (1850), 11 (1862) and 18 (1871). Her husband was murdered while sitting next to her. By 1875 she was committed to a mental institution due to her grief and erratic behavior, and though released in 1876, her relationship with son Robert (by then an attorney in his thirties) was estranged. Mary Todd Lincoln died in 1882, age 63.

In addition to Frank Sinatra (1915) and Edvard Munch (1863), today is the birthday

… of Bob Barker. C’mon down, he’s 88.

… of Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bob Pettit. He is 79. He was NBA MVP four times.

… of Connie Francis. Do you suppose she’s still trying to get to where the boys are at 73?

… of Dionne Warwick. Perhaps she’d just as soon walk on by her 71st birthday.

… of Dickey Betts. The member of the Allman Brothers band is 68.

… of two-time Indy winner, Formula One and CART champion Emerson Fittipaldi. The Brazilian driver now spends most of his time in the fast lane with his right blinker on at age 65.

… of Cathy Rigby. The Olympic gymnast (1968, 1972) is 59.

… of Tracy Austin. The one-time tennis prodigy at 16 is now 49.

… of Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly. She’s 41.

… of Edward G. Robinson, born on this date in 1893. The actor, born Emanuel Goldenberg in Bucharest, Romania, was known primarily for portraying gangsters such as Rico in Little Caesar and Rocco in Key Largo. AFI considered him one of the greatest male stars of the 20th century. I saw him playing baccarat in Las Vegas in the mid-60s. His stack was $500 bills. (Bills larger than $100 were last printed in 1945 and withdrawn from circulation beginning in 1969.)

William Lloyd Garrison was born on this date in 1805. Garrison was the editor of The Liberator, the most prominent abolitionist newspaper, and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

John Jay was born on this date in 1745. Jay, a delegate from New York, served in the First and Second Continental Congresses. During the War for Independence Jay served as president of the Continental Congress, minister plenipotentiary to Spain, and peace commissioner (in which he negotiated vital treaties with Spain and France). He was Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation. During the ratification of the Constitution, Jay was author of the Federalist Papers, along with Madison and Hamilton. He was the first Chief Justice of the United States. While Chief Justice, Jay negotiated a vital, though flawed treaty with Great Britain in 1794, the Jay Treaty. I guess he qualifies as a Founding Father.