Happy Birthday!

July 27

cntbill

You share a birthday with Jerry Van Dyke, Triple H, and Alex Rodriquez!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_27

July 28

KLook

You share a birthday with Rudy Vallee, Sally Struthers, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_28

July 31

Rob R.

You share a birthday with Wesley Snipes, Dean Cain, and Michael Biehn!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_31

August 1

samhill

You share a birthday with Jerry Garcia, Dom Deluise, and Herman Melville!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_1

Thanks Sterling, & I thought I would never see 21 so I guess I'm doing something right.

August 7

McGiever

You share a birthday with Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, David Duchovny, and Charlize Theron!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_7

August 9

buck24

You share a birthday with Sam Elliot, Eric Bana, and Deion Sanders!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_9

August 13

billlindley

You share a birthday with Alfred Hitchcock, Danny Bonaduce, and Annie Oakley!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_13

Look whom else shares this birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The bastard has outlived most of his enemies!

Fidel Castro
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This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Castro and the second or maternal family name is Ruz.
Fidel Castro
Castro in front of a Havana statue of Cuban national hero, José Martí, in 2003.
First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Cuba
In office
October 3, 1965 – April 19, 2011
Deputy Raúl Castro
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
15th President of Cuba
In office
December 2, 1976 – February 24, 2008*
Prime Minister Himself
Vice President Raúl Castro
Preceded by Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
16th Prime Minister of Cuba
In office
February 16, 1959 – February 24, 2008
President Manuel Urrutia Lleó
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado
Himself
Preceded by José Miró Cardona
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
7th and 23rd Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement
In office
September 16, 2006 – February 24, 2008
Preceded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Succeeded by Raúl Castro
In office
September 10, 1979 – March 6, 1983
Preceded by Junius Richard Jayawardene
Succeeded by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
Personal details
Born Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
August 13, 1926 (age 86)
Birán, Cuba
Political party Communist Party of Cuba
Spouse(s) Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955)
Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present)
Relations (siblings)
Raúl Castro
Enma Castro
Agustina Castro
Ramon Castro Ruz
Angelita Castro
Children Fidel Ángel Castro Diaz-Balart
Alina Fernández-Revuelta
Alexis Castro-Soto
Alejandro Castro-Soto
Antonio Castro-Soto
Angel Castro-Soto
Alex Castro-Soto
Jorge Angel Castro
Francisca Pupo
Alma mater University of Havana
Profession Lawyer
Religion None
Signature
*Acting presidential powers were transferred to Raúl Castro from July 31, 2006.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban communist revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. On the international stage, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and 2006 to 2008.

Born the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Castro became involved in leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. Involving himself in armed rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he concluded that the U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, who was widely seen as a dictator, had to be overthrown; to this end he led a failed armed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. Imprisoned for a year, he traveled to Mexico, and with the aid of his brother Raúl Castro and friend Che Guevara, assembled a group of revolutionaries, the 26th of July Movement. Returning with them to Cuba, he took a key role in the Cuban Revolution, leading a successful guerrilla war against Batista's forces, overthrowing him in 1959. Castro subsequently became Commander in Chief of the armed forces and shortly thereafter became Prime Minister. The United States was alarmed by his involvement in the overthrow of Batista and relationship with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, implementing an economic blockade of the island. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to overthrow him, which they unsuccessfully tried through multiple assassination attempts and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. To counter this threat, Castro forged an economic and military alliance with the Soviet Union and allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, leading to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Adopting Marxism-Leninism as his guiding ideology, in 1961 Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of the Cuban revolution, and in 1965 became First Secretary of the newly founded Communist Party. He then led the transformation of Cuba into a one-party socialist republic, nationalizing industry, embarking on the large-scale construction of housing and infrastructure and introducing free healthcare and education; the administration also halted the freedom of the press and suppressed internal dissidents considered to be counter-revolutionaries. A keen internationalist, Castro introduced Cuban medical brigades who worked throughout the developing world, and aided foreign revolutionary socialist groups in the hope of toppling world capitalism, thereby involving Cuba in the Yom Kippur War, Angolan Civil War and the Ogaden War. In 1976 he stepped down as Prime Minister to become President of both the Council of State and Council of Ministers. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro led Cuba into its economic "Special Period", before taking the country into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in 2006 and forging alliances with other nations in the Latin American "Pink Tide". Amidst failing health, in 2006 Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who then became President when Fidel stepped down in 2008.

Castro is a controversial and highly divisive world figure, being lauded as a champion of anti-imperialism, humanitarianism, socialism and environmentalism by his supporters, but his critics have accused him of being a dictator whose authoritarian administration has overseen multiple human rights abuses both at home and abroad. A prolific author on various topics, he has had a significant influence on the politics of various individuals and groups across the world,

August 20

I'm On Fire

You share a birthday with Benjamin Harrison, Ron Paul, and Robert Plant!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_20

Thank you!

August 21

Poconoeagle

You share a birthday with Kenny Rogers, Wilt Chamberlain, and Usain Bolt

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_21

thank you!

August 25


smokeyCityTeacher and JohnMck


You share a birthday with Sean Connery, Gene Simmons and Billy Ray Cyrus!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_25

August 30

titleist1

You share a birthday with Warren Buffet, Ted Williams, and Cameron Diaz!

This day in history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_30