Politician Flip-Flops on Birth Date

Sen. Robert Byrd—the oldest and longest-serving member of the Senate—celebrated the wrong birthday for decades. He was born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr., in Wilkesboro, N. C., but his name was changed when he was adopted by his aunt and uncle.

His natural mother died Nov. 10, 1918, a victim of a national influenza epidemic, [Byrd aide Cindy] Huber said.

“When Sen. Byrd met one of his brothers — I think this was in the 1970s — he told him that his birthday was Nov. 20, not Jan. 15,” Huber said.

Since the Byrds in West Virginia had no children, they adopted the future senator but somehow confusion developed as to his actual birth date, the staff spokesperson said, and wasn’t cleared up until the brother came to see him. [Link]

A Centenarian's Shocking Secret

Rose Elliot was ready to celebrate her 100th birthday on September 16, 1907.

But after her niece, Doreen McWhirter from north Belfast, checked her birth certificate, she discovered her aunt was actually born on September 28, 1905 - making her 102.

"It was a real shock," Mrs McWhirter said.

"The nursing home she lives in was all set for a big party and I had already bought her a 100th birthday card.

"I told them that we had a wee bit of a hiccup and explained about the birth certificate and her birthday being on the 28th. They were shocked, too." [Link]

Poe Toaster a Hoax?

Each year on Edgar Allan Poe's birthday, a mysterious figure dressed in black lays roses and booze on his grave in Baltimore. Sam Porpora, 92, a former ad executive, is claiming that he created the legend.

Mr. Porpora's story begins in the late 1960s. He'd just been made historian of the church, built in 1852 at Fayette and Greene Streets. There were fewer than 60 congregants and Mr. Porpora, in his 60s, was one of the youngest. The overgrown cemetery was a favourite of drunken derelicts.

The site needed money and publicity, Mr. Porpora recalled. That, he said, is when the idea of the Poe toaster came to him. The story, as Mr. Porpora told it to a local reporter then, was that the tribute had been laid at the grave on Poe's Jan. 19 birthday every year since 1949. Three roses - one for Poe, one for his wife and one for his mother-in-law - and a bottle of cognac were placed there, because Poe loved the stuff even though he couldn't afford to drink it unless someone else was buying. [Link]

Critics say that Porpora may have popularized the legend, but that the mysterious stranger was showing up long before he became involved.

Centenarian Not as Old as She'd Thought

Upon inspection of her birth certificate, a 100-year-old woman in Wales has learned that she blew out her birthday candles on the wrong day for 99 years.

Nellie Davies, who has no idea how the mix-up happened, said: "I couldn't believe it. Who'd have thought all these years I'd been celebrating the wrong day?"

Ever since Nellie was a child she had been celebrating her birthday on May 2 but that has changed since a relative noticed the birthdate was May 24. It was in-fact 22 days later in 1907 Mrs. Davies was born. [Link]

We had a similar situation in my own family. My grandmother always celebrated her birthday on November 18, but her official birth record gives the date as November 9. The family record I shared here gives the November 18 date, with the time and day of the week written by another hand. In this case, the official record is almost certainly wrong—perhaps the product of a country doctor with poor penmanship.

So maybe Nellie was celebrating the right birthday all along.

Happy Birthday to Few

According to mental_floss (citing a 2001 study), today is the least popular day to be born.

According to the inquiry, an average of 12,576 people are born each year on the 5th of October. It also suggests that some 968,000 Americans celebrate this day annually.

Which birth date is the least common? May 22nd with an average of 10,259 persons born each year.

A Birthday Without a Birth

Presidents Day is ostensibly a birthday celebration, which is strange since no President could possibly have celebrated his birthday on the third Monday in February.

George Washington was born either on February 11, 1731 (according to the old-style Julian calendar, still in use at the time), or on February 22, 1732 (according to the Gregorian calendar, adopted in 1752 throughout the British Empire). Under no circumstances, therefore, can Washington’s birthday fall on Washington’s Birthday, a.k.a. Presidents Day, which, being the third Monday of the month, can occur only between the 15th and the 21st. Lincoln’s birthday, February 12th, doesn’t make it through the Presidents Day window, either. Nor do the natal days of our other two February Presidents, William Henry Harrison (born on the 6th) and Ronald Reagan (the 9th). A fine mess! [Link]

Birthday Greetings From the Grave

Researchers at Microsoft are working on an "immortal computing" project, which would "let people store digital information in physical artifacts and other forms to be preserved and revealed to future generations, and maybe even to future civilizations."

One scenario the researchers envision: People could store messages to descendants, information about their lives or interactive holograms of themselves for access by visitors at their tombstones or urns.

And here's where the notion of immortality really kicks in: The researchers say the artifacts could be symbolic representations of people, reflecting elements of their personalities. The systems might be set up to take action -- e-mailing birthday greetings to people identified as grandchildren, for example. [Link]

How long will it work before Grandma gets the Blue Screen of Death?

A Predictable Birthday Gift

Something weird's going on in Clara Nicole D'Amico's family. She was born June 21st, on the 29th birthday of her mother, who was born on the 29th birthday of her mother, who was born on the 29th birthday of her mother-in-law. When she turned 28 last year, mom Marybeth D'Amico tossed a coin into the Trevi Fountain wishing for this, but she wonders if her delivery date was due to intervention more divine.

“Obviously, having a baby is just a miracle,” said D’Amico. “The fact she was born June 21 makes you wonder if someone else was involved, whether it was God or one of my relatives up in heaven.”

[Link]

I too suspect that "someone else was involved," though the baby's father is not mentioned in the story.

Poe's Birthday Party Crashed

From Guardian Unlimited:

Poe graveside tribute remains a mystery

Associated Press
Thursday January 19, 2006

For the 57th year running, a mystery man today paid tribute to Edgar Allan Poe by placing roses and a bottle of cognac on the writer's grave to mark his birthday.

Some of the 25 spectators drawn to a tiny, locked graveyard in downtown Baltimore for the ceremony climbed over the walls of the site and were "running all over the place trying to find out how the guy gets in", according to Jeff Jerome, the most faithful viewer of the event.

Mr Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum, said he had to chase people out of the graveyard, fearing they would interfere with the mystery visitor's ceremony.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

Girl Settles for Great-Grandson of Man She Loves

From The Boston (Mass.) Globe:

Relative importance

An abolitionist's descendants celebrate his 200th birthday

By Jack Thomas, Globe Staff | August 6, 2005

When Nancy Scripture read about the Civil War, she fell in love with William Lloyd Garrison, the Boston abolitionist. It was an unusual romance. She was 16, and he'd been dead for 67 years.

[snip]

In the ensuing months, she also fell in love with Frederick, the great-grandson of William Lloyd Garrison, and they married and lived happily until his death in 2001 at age 86.

[snip]

[Read the whole story]