February 17th

February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. If the ancient Mayans were correct, there are 308 days remaining until the end of time.

1817 Baltimore is the 1st U.S. city lit by gas

1908 Geronimo, Apache chief, goes to Yale for the Skull and Bones initiation, but not like you'd think.  Read about the recent lawsuit to recover his bones.

1924 Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds)

1964 U.S. Supreme Court rules - 1 man 1 vote (Westberry vs. Sanders)

Of Legal Age Dame Edna Everage - Australian doyenne of taste and culture

1934 Barry Humphries, Australian comedian/actor

1934 Sir Alan Bates, English actor/nude homo-erotic wrestler

1936 Jim Brown, US football player/actor/social activist/Playgirl model

1962 Lou Diamond Phillips, US actor/marries lesbians

1970 Dominic Purcell, English actor/Prison Break

1970 Jeremy Edwards, English actor/TV presenter

1972 Billie Joe Armstrong, bisexual US singer/guitarist (Green Day)

Billy Joe's other side

1974 Jerry O’Connell, US actor/Bluth

1980 Jason Ritter, US actor/son of Jack Tripper

1980 Derrick Hayes, Australian model

1981 Joseph Gordon-Levitt, US actor

n.d. Romain Collinet, French rugger / Dieux du Stade model

1982 [Israel] Lee Strasberg, method acting coach/actor (And Justice for All), will always be remembered as a methodist

1994 Randy Shilts, U.S. journalist (And The Band Played On) called "Reporter Zero", succumbs to AIDS