Events For 12 February 2011

Holidays/ Celebrations

By: sparkybates 11-Feb-2011

Introduction:

Saturday, February 12th is the 43rd day of 2011. There are 322 days remaining until the end of the year (315 days until Christmas). If February 12th is your birthday, your zodiac sign is Aquarius.

Lincoln's Birthday

The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, best known for his modern day presence on the five dollar bill and penny, his Emancipation Proclamation freeing American slaves, his Gettysburg Address, the establishment of a national Thanksgiving holiday, and his tragic assassination at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC following the Civil War, was born on February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. February 12, 2011, then, is the 202nd anniversary of his birth.

Although many states combine Lincoln's Birthday into a single state holiday that coincides with the federal Washington's Birthday holiday observed on the third Monday of February (sometimes calling it President's Day), a few still recognize February 12th as a state holiday.

Darwin Day

Amazingly, Charles Darwin, the English scientist known for his 1859 book "On the Origin of Species" that introduced the theory of evolution, was born on the very same day (February 12, 1809) as President Lincoln. Darwin Day, then, is celebrated as a global celebration of science and reason on the birthday of the father of modern biology.

Daytona 500 Pole Day

Qualification laps for the highly coveted pole position in NASCAR's Daytona 500 auto race are held on the weekend prior to the actual race. The driver to complete the fastest single lap in a two-lap qualifying effort around the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) high-banked tri-oval superspeedway earns the inside starting position in the first row or pole position. The driver that completes the second fastest lap is assigned to start at the outside location in the first row or outside pole position.

NAACP Birthday

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909. The NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Appalled by the violence being committed against blacks, a group of white liberals called for a meeting to discuss racial justice. About 60 people, including W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Church Terrell, and four other African Americans, signed the call for the meeting on the centennial of Lincoln's birth.

Birthdays of Note

Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (First Lady - wife of John Quincy Adams) - 1775 (would have been 236 years old)

John Llewellyn Lewis (labor leader - UMWA) - 1880 (would have been 131 years old)

Joe Garagiola (baseball player/announcer) - 1926 (85 years old)

Arlen Specter (U.S. Senator) - 1930 (81 years old)

Bill Russell (basketball player) - 1934 (77 years old)

Judy Blume (author) - 1938 (73 years old)

Joanna Kerns (actress) - 1953 (58 years old)

Arsenio Hall (comedian) - 1955 (56 years old)

Josh Brolin (actor) - 1968 (43 years old)

Christina Ricci (actress) - 1980 (31 years old)