50+ Lifestyles

February Dates & Facts

By Eloise Graham

As the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomer Set, we all know that Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th, George Washington on February 22nd and February 14th is Valentine’s Day. Below are some other people that share “their day” with these dates.

February 12, 1809 – Abraham Lincoln 1809 – Charles Darwin
1893 – Omar Bradley 1904 – Ted Mack
1915 –Lorne Greene 1917 – Dom DiMaggio
1926 – Joe Garagiola 1938 – Judy Blume
1950 – Steve Hackett 1953 – Joanna Kearns

February 12, 1818 – Fredrick Douglas 1894 – Jack Benny
1913 – Jimmy Hoffa 1921 – Hugh Downs
1932 – Vic Morrow 1934 – Florence Henderson
1942 – Michael Bloomberg 1944 – Carl Bernstein
1946 – Gregory Hines 1972 – Drew Bledsoe

February 22, 1732 – George Washington 1810 – Fredric Chopin
1907 – Robert Young 1908 – John Mills
1932 – Edward M. Kennedy 1934 – Sparky Anderson
1950 – Julius “Dr. J” Erving 1962 – Steve “Croc Hunter” Irwin
1963 – Vijay Singh 1975 – Drew Barrymore

Some Important February dates from early Naval History!
1778 – John Paul Jones in Ranger receives first official salute to U.S. Stars and Strips flag by European country, at Quiberon, France.
1779 – John Paul Jones takes command of Bonhomme Richard
1795 – U.S. Navy Office of Purveyor of Supplies is established. This is the Navy Supply Corps Birthday.
1799 – February 9 – USS Constellation (CAPT Truxtun) captures French l’Insurgente
1800 – USS Constellation (CAPT Thomas Truxtun) defeats la Vengeance
– USS Essex becomes first U.S. Navy vessel to cross the Equator.
1801 – Senate approves peace treaty with France ending undeclared naval war that began 1798
1804 – Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, with volunteers from frigate Constitution and schooner Enterprise, enters Tripoli harbor by night in the ketch Intrepid to burn the captured frigate Philadelphia. Decatur’s raid succeeds without American losses. England’s Lord Nelson calls this “the most daring act of the age.”
1811 – Congress authorizes first naval hospital
1813 – USS Essex becomes first U.S. warship to round Cape Horn and enter the Pacific Ocean
– USS Hornet, Captain James Lawrence, captures HMS Peacock
1814 – USS Constitution captures British Lovely Ann and Pictou
– USS Constitution captures British brig Catherine
1815 – The Board of Naval Commissioners, a group of senior officers, is established to oversee the operation and maintenance of the Navy, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy.
– USS Constitution captures British Susannah