Eight billion people inhabit the earth. A billion of those (give or take) woke up this morning with the Super Bowl on their mind. That’s the bad news. The good news is: seven billion didn’t.
Furthermore, three people (give or take) woke up this morning with Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln on their mind. I’m one of those. No offense, but I’m pretty sure you’re not.
Today is the birthday of Darwin and Lincoln. Birthday twins. Both born in 1809. Both “saints” in my book.
Darwin was born in a manor in Shrewsbury, England. Lincoln in a cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky. One is known for evolution; the other for emancipation.
It doesn’t matter where you start, it matters where you finish.
That Darwin and Lincoln share a birth date is, of course, coincidental, as is the shared death dates of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson—July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which both had signed. Adams died in Quincy, Massachusetts. Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia. That’s certainly an odd coincidence, but I’m not interested in death day twins.
I looked up “famous birthday twins.”
Angelina Jolie & Russell Brand, June 4, 1975. Pol Pot & Malcolm X, May 19, 1925. Michael Jordan & Larry the Cable Guy, February 17, 1963. Marilyn Monroe & Andy Griffith, June 1, 1926. Lenny Bruce & Margaret Thatcher, October 13, 1925. Newt Gingrich & Barry Manilow, June 17, 1943. Van Morrison & Itzhak Perlman, August 31, 1945. Rudy Giuliani & Gladys Knight, May 28, 1944. And that’s just a sampling from a long list.
I figured I must have a famous birthday twin.
I searched July 5, 1947, to see who my famous birthday twin might be. I scrolled down. July 2 Larry David. July 3 Dave Barry. (So far so good.) July 4 Morganna Roberts, baseball’s “kissing bandit.” (Not so good). July 5. Blank. (What?!) July 6 Lance Clemons, baseball player. It seemed every July 1947 date had a famous name but one: July 5.
Okay, so I don’t have a famous birthday twin. But I will tell you that Shohei “the Next Babe Ruth” Ohtani was born on July 5th. And, as it turns out, we’re a lot alike. Famous ballplayers.
I was selected to the Youngstown Little League All-Star team when I was 12. Ohtani’s an All-Star, too. In the big leagues, of course. But let’s not quibble.
It matters where you finish.
* * *
PS. Due to a technical glitch some of you did not receive last week’s post: THE LOVE QUESTION. If you’d like to read it, click here.
