Thursday, February 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Abe -- and other birthday greetings

Today is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. In honor of this self-educated, self-made leader, Chicago public schools are closed today: Learn at home today, kids, just like ol' Abe.

The Federal holiday, Presidents' Day, is Monday. All Chicago public schools are closed then, too. Since no one wants to come in for just one day -- especially when that day is Friday the 13th -- Chicago public schools will be closed tomorrow, too. A five day weekend! Forbes.com may think Chicago is the third most miserable American city -- but it obviously didn't consult Chicago public school students this week when making these calculations....

Don't let Lincoln's Bicentennial blind you to these other upcoming birthdays:

February 14 is uber-blogger Ken Levine's birthday. It's also Oldest Daughter's 25th birthday. How in the heck do these things happen? She should start thinking about following in the footsteps of another Valentine's Day baby, Benny Kubelsky, born in Waukegan in 1894:

If Jack Benny were alive today, he'd be turning... 39.

Special birthday bonus: Here's a link to Ken Levine's August 2007 post about missing a Beatles concert so he could see Jack Benny in Vegas. "I made the right choice," Levine concludes. "That night at Sahara's he was sensational. No one who went to the Beatles concert could hear a note." Be sure to watch the videos embedded in the Levine post.

1 comment:

Rob said...

You reminded me of an interesting nugget I came across last week. Daguerreotype of Young Abraham Lincoln is an interesting site that has what's purported to be the earliest known photo of Honest Abe, taken in the early 1840s when he was in his early 30s. The difference between the young vs. older Lincoln is dramatic and the toll that life during his Presidency had on him physically is quite startling.