What happened on February 12 ?

1074 - Conrad, King of Germany and Italy (d. 1101)

1218 - Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun (d. 1256)

1567 - Thomas Campion, English composer and poet (d. 1620)

1606 - John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of Connecticut (d. 1676)

1637 - Jan Swammerdam, Dutch scientist (d. 1680)

1663 - Cotton Mather, New England minister (d. 1728)

1665 - Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (d. 1721)

1704 - Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer (d. 1772)

1728 - ÿtienne-Louis Boullée, French architect (d. 1799)

1753 - François-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers, French admiral (d. 1798)

1768 - Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1835)

1775 - Louisa Adams, First Lady of the United States, wife of John Quincy Adams (d. 1852)

1777 - Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, French poet (d. 1843)

1785 - Pierre Louis Dulong, French physicist (d. 1838)

1788 - Carl Reichenbach, German chemist and philosopher (d. 1869)

1794 - Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player (d. 1867)

1804 - Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (d. 1865)

1809 - Charles Darwin, English naturalist (d. 1882)

1809 - Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (d. 1865)

1818 - Otto Ludwig, German writer

1828 - George Meredith, English writer (d. 1909)

1857 - Bobby Peel, English cricketer (d. 1943).

1861 - Lou Andreas-Salome, Russian-born author (d. 1937)

1865 - Kazimierz Tetmajer, Polish poet and writer (d. 1940)

1876 - Thubten Gyatso, 13th Dalai Lama (d. 1933)

1880 - John L. Lewis, American labor union leader (d. 1969)

1881 - Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina (d. 1931)

1884 - Max Beckmann, German painter and graphic artist (d. 1950)

1884 - Marie Vassilieff, Russian artist (d. 1957)

1893 - Omar Bradley, American general (d. 1981)

1898 - Wallace Ford, English-born actor (d. 1966)

1900 - Roger J. Traynor, American judge (d. 1980)

1904 - Ted Mack, American television host (d. 1976)

1908 - Jacques Herbrand, French logician-mathematician (d. 1931)

1908 - August Neo, Estonian wrestler (d. 1982)

1911 - Stephen H. Sholes, American recording executive (d. 1968)

1912 - R. F. Delderfield, English author (d. 1972)

1914 - Tex Beneke, American musician and band leader (d. 2000)

1915 - Lorne Greene, American actor (d. 1987)

1916 - Joseph Alioto, Mayor of San Francisco (d. 1998)

1917 - Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)

1918 - Julian Schwinger, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)

1919 - Forrest Tucker, American actor (d. 1986)

1920 - William Roscoe Estep, Baptist historian and professor (d. 2000)

1923 - Franco Zeffirelli, Italian film and opera director and designer

1925 - Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (d. 1984)

1926 - Joe Garagiola, baseball player

1926 - Paul Kurtz, American philosopher

1926 - Charles Van Doren, American quiz show contestant

1930 - Arlen Specter, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania

1931 - Janwillem van de Wetering, Dutch author

1932 - Axel Jensen, Norwegian author (d. 2003)

1932 - Julian Lincoln Simon, American economist and author (d. 1998)

1933 - Costa-Gavras, Greek-born director and writer

1934 - Bill Russell, American basketball player

1936 - Joe Don Baker, American actor

1936 - Paul Shenar, American actor

1937 - Charles Dumas, American athlete

1938 - Judy Blume, American author

1938 - Johnny Rutherford, American race car driver

1939 - Ray Manzarek, American keyboardist (The Doors)

1940 - Richard Lynch, American actor

1941 - Naomi Uemura, Japanese adventurer

1942 - Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel

1945 - Maud Adams, Swedish actress

1946 - Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer

1946 - Jean Eyeghe Ndong, Prime Minister of Gabon

1948 - Raymond Kurzweil, American inventor and author

1950 - Michael Ironside, Canadian actor

1950 - Steve Hackett, British musician (Genesis (band))

1952 - Michael McDonald, American musician

1953 - Nabil Shaban, British actor

1953 - Robin Thomas, American actor

1954 - Philip Zimmermann, American cryptographer

1955 - Arsenio Hall, American actor and talk show host

1958 - Bobby Smith, Canadian hockey player

1958 - Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens)

1961 - Jim Harris, Canadian polititian

1962 - Jimmy Kirkwood, Irish-born field hockey player

1967 - Chris McKinstry, Canadian computer scientist

1967 - Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Indian composer and musician

1968 - Josh Brolin, American actor

1968 - Chynna Phillips, American singer

1969 - Darren Aronofsky, American director and writer

1969 - Meja, Swedish singer

1969 - Hong Myung-Bo, Korean footballer

1970 - Jim Creeggan, Canadian bassist (Barenaked Ladies)

1970 - Judd Winick, writer and artist

1973 - Gianni Romme, Dutch speed skater

1973 - Tara Strong, American voice actress

1976 - Silvia Saint, Czech actress

1976 - Christian Cullen, New Zealand Rugby player

1978 - Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby player

1979 - Jesse Spencer, Australian actor

1979 - Matt Mauck, American football player

1980 - Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player

1980 - Christina Ricci, American actress

1982 - Onil Joseph, Dominican Republic Major League Baseball baseball player