Birthdays in Sport on February 12

  • 1794 Alexander Petrov, Russian chess player (d. 1867)
  • 1831 John Morrissey, boxer/developer of Saratoga Springs horse race track
  • 1843 John Graham Chambers, English athlete who wrote the Queensberry rules for boxing (d. 1883)
  • 1857 Bobby Peel, cricketer (great English lefty 1884-96)
  • 1891 Cecil Dixon, South African cricket off-spinner (1 Test for South Africa, 3-118, pair), born in Potchefstroom, Transvaal (d. 1969)
  • 1903 Chick Hafey, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (2 World Series 1926, 31), born in Berkeley, California (d. 1973)
  • 1908 August Neo, Estonian wrestler (d. 1982)
  • 1910 Gunnar Höckert, Finnish athlete (Olympic gold 5,000m 1936), born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 1940)
  • 1911 Charles Mathiesen, Norwegian 1500m speed skater (Olympic gold 1936)
  • 1912 Eddie J Bush, golf professional
  • 1918 Dominic DiMaggio, baseball outfielder (Boston Red Sox)
  • 1926 Joe Garagiola, NFL catcher and sportscaster/host (Today Show), born in St Louis, Missouri (d. 2016)

Person of interestBill Russell

1934 Bill Russell, American basketball star (Boston Celtics, Olympic-gold 1956), born in West Monroe, Louisiana

Basketball Player Bill Russell
Basketball Player
Bill Russell
  • 1935 Ken Still, American professional golfer, born in Tacoma, Washington
  • 1937 Charles Everett Dumas, high jumper (Olympic gold 1956), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • 1941 Ross Morgan, cricketer (NZ batsman in 20 Tests 1965-72)

  • 1942 Pat Dobson, American baseball player (d. 2006)
  • 1944 Charles Pasarell, tennis pro
  • 1945 Don Wilson, American MLB pitcher (2 x no-hitters), born in Monroe, Louisiana (d. 1975)
  • 1948 Cindy Hill, LPGA golfer
  • 1949 Gundappa Viswanath, cricketer (prolific Indian batsman of 70s)
  • 1949 Len Randle, baseball player (NY Mets)
  • 1955 Daniele Masala, Italian pentathelete (Olympics 1976), born in Rome, Italy
  • 1955 Chet Lemon [Chester Earl Lemon], US baseball player, born in Jackson, Mississippi
  • 1958 Ingrid Klich, rower (Olympics 1996), born in Whittier, California
  • 1961 Chris Heyne, WLAF General Manager (Frankfurt Galaxy), born in Munich, Germany
  • 1962 Jimmy Kirkwood, Irish-born field hockey player, born in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
  • 1963 Brent Jones, NFL tight end (SF 49ers), born in Santa Clara, California
  • 1964 Maurice Douglass, NFL safety (NY Giants), born in Muncie, Indiana
  • 1964 Michel Petit, NHL defenseman (Tampa Bay Lightning), born in Quebec, Canada
  • 1964 Milton Small, West Indian cricket pace bowler (WI v Australia 1984), born in Saint Philip Parish, Barbados
  • 1965 Rubén Amaro Jr., US baseball outfielder (Cleveland Indians), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • 1967 Andrew Dunkley, English golfer (1991-93 Co-Captain U of W Fla), born in Kent, England
  • 1968 Todd Fanning, Canadian golfer (Manitoba Amat-1984, 90, 91, 92), born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • 1969 Colin Keely, US water polo driver (Olympics 1996), born in Buffalo, New York
  • 1969 Hong Myung-Bo, Korean footballer, born in Seoul, South Korea
  • 1970 Bryan Roy, Dutch football manager and player (Ajax), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 1970 Dell Demps, NBA guard (San Antonio Spurs), born in Long Beach, Canada
  • 1970 Lamar Thomas, NFL wide receiver (Tampa Bay Bucs, Miami Dolphins), born in Ocala, Florida
  • 1971 Lincoln Kennedy, NFL tackle (Oakland Raiders), born in York, Pennsylvania
  • 1971 Romeo Bandison, NFL defensive tackle (Cleveland Browns), born in the Hague, Netherlands

  • 1971 Shane Tonkin, Australian baseball pitcher (Olympics 1996), born in Perth, Australia
  • 1971 Shante Carver, NFL defensive end (Dallas Cowboys), born in Stockton, California
  • 1972 Dulip Samaraweera, Sri Lankan cricketer (Sri Lankan Test opening batsman 1993-), born in Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 1973 Brendon Mark Cameron, New Zealand 4k pursuit cyclist (Olympics 1996), born in Otorohanga, New Zealand
  • 1974 Ian Mcintyre, NHL left wing (Vancouver Canucks), born in Montreal, Quebec
  • 1974 Toranosuke Takagi, Japanese race car driver, born in Shizuoka, Japan
  • 1975 Chris Szarka, CFL fullback (Saskatchewan Roughriders), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
  • 1975 Matt Finkes, NFL linebacker (NY Jets), born in Piqua, Ohio
  • 1975 Scot Pollard, NBA center (Detroit Pistons), born in Murray, Utah
  • 1975 Seth Payne, NFL defensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars), born in Clifton Springs, New York
  • 1976 Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby union footballer, born in Paraparaumu, New Zealand
  • 1977 Jimmy Conrad, US soccer player, born in Arcadia, California
  • 1978 Brett Hodgson, Australian rugby league footballer, born in Liverpool, Australia
  • 1979 Antonio Chatman, NFL wide receiver and punt returner, born in Jackson, Alabama
  • 1979 Matt Mauck, NFL player, born in Jasper, Indiana
  • 1980 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis player, born in Ontinyent, Spain
  • 1982 Onil Joseph, Dominican baseball player, born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
  • 1982 Louis Tsatoumas, Greek long jumper, born in Messene, Greece
  • 1983 Carlton Brewster, NFL player, born in Grand Rapids, Michigan
  • 1984 Peter Vanderkaay, US mid-distance swimmer, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
  • 1984 Brad Keselowski, NASCAR Nationwide Series Driver, born in Rochester Hills, Michigan

February in History