It’s been 24 hours of highly unusual retirements. Golf legend Annika Sorenstam said last night that she would quit golf at the end of the 2008 season. This even though she’s currently ranked number two in the world behind Lorena Ochoa of Mexico.
Pop star Stevie Wonder is only 58 today.
Actor Robert Pattinson was born on 13 May 1986, according to his representatives at 3 Arts Entertainment.There’s been some dispute online about the exact date. Everyone seems to agree on 1986, but some sources say May 13th and some say May 14th. Who2 editor Paul Hehn cleared it up by contacting Pattinson’s management company, 3 Arts Entertainment. Their rep replied with this terse but friendly message: “Hey Paul – Rob’s D.O.B is 5/13/86.”Case closed!
Presidential daughter Jenna Bush was married tonight to Henry Hager in Crawford, Texas, according to Reuters.Her twin sister Barbara Bush was the maid of honor.The news service notes, “A White House spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Bush would take Hager’s name or where the newlyweds would take their honeymoon.”
Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager has died in Germany at age 90. He was the last survivor of the July 1944 plot that came within a whisker of assassinating Adolf Hitler.
Filmmaker Wes Anderson — the quirky director of Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited — enters the last year of his 30s today. He’s 39.
Diane, you are truly a faithful reader and a goddess of proofreading. Never stop sharing!Those thank-you checks should clear customs any day now.
Late, great racehorse Barbaro was born five years ago today. Barbaro won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but two weeks later he shattered his leg while running in the Preakness Stakes, the second race in the Triple Crown. Despite state-of-the-art treatment, he died in January of 2007 of laminitis. That’ the same crazy horse-hoof illness that got Secretariat.
Interesting story in The New York Times today about Ernie Chambers, the senior senator in Nebraska’s legislature. He’s being forced out by term limits after nearly 40 years in the legislature.
It’s the semiquincentennial of President James Monroe, born on 28 April in 1758.Monroe is remembered for a lot of things (including, endlessly, the Monroe Doctrine). But at Who2 HQ we tend to think of him as the first non-Founding Father president.
Happy 100th birthday, Edward R. Murrow.You stud.
Yikes! Actor Wesley Snipes given three years in prison for not paying his taxes.
Yesterday we were chatting about Wallis Simpson, the somewhat slippery woman for whom King Edward VIII gave up his crown.
Guy Trundle, Guy Trundle, Guy Trundle!Seductive king-buster Wallis Simpson died 22 years ago today. The anniversary is just a convenient excuse to shout “Guy Trundle” — the most deliciously seedy name in the history of romantic scandals.
Actor Ivan Dixon died last month, says the LA Times. We missed the story until just now.Dixon played “Kinch” on the series Hogan’s Heroes. But he had a fascinating (if less-heralded) career after that.On the trivia front: That Times obit says he also was the stunt double for Sidney Poitier in The Defiant Ones.
Happy birthday (probably) to William Shakespeare!
Hillary Rodham Clinton has won the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. With 99% of precincts reporting, she leads Barack Obama 55%-45%. See the final numbers at PennLive.
Pennsylvania’s day to vote has arrived. Here are a few places to look for results and breaking news:The combined political news page of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily NewsPrimary coverage from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (and the paper’s Early Returns blog)
Naturalist and adventurer John Muir was born 170 years ago today, in 1838.Muir was an early explorer of California (on foot, incidentally) and was the force behind the creation of Yosemite National Park. He’s also the guy on the California quarter. (As an aside, see our own cranky take on quarters and heroes.)
New profile: The Jonas Brothers, a trio of musical brothers aged 16, 18 and 20. If you haven’t heard of them yet, you will: They’re on the Disney Channel’s ‘A’ list now. Opening for Miley Cyrus on tour last fall helped push their album Jonas Brothers to platinum status, and they have a made-for-Disney Channel movie in the High School Musical mode, titled Camp Rock, due out in June.