Happy Birthday November 12

The Russian composer Alexander Borodin was born in Saint Petersburg on November 12, 1833. He was the illegitimate son of Prince Luka Spanovich Gedianov, an elderly nobleman, and the beautiful and intelligent 24-year-old Avdotya Konstantinova Antonova. To save any public embarrassment, he was registered under the name of one of the Prince’s serfs, Pofiry Borodin. Although best known today as a romantic composer, Borodin was one of the foremost chemists of his time, being particularly noted for his work on aldehydes.

The French Auguste Rodin was born on November 12, 1840. Rodin is best known for creating one of the most recognized of all sculptures, The Thinker, in 1889. The most renowned European sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he remains one of the few sculptors widely known outside the visual arts community.

The actress Grace Kelly was born on November 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, John B. Kelly Sr, owned a successful brickwork contracting company and she was brought up in the family home in the East Falls district of Philadelphia. She made four all time classic Hollywood movies, including three by Alfred Hitchock:  Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. Grace Kelly gave up her acting career aged 26 when she married Prince Rainier III and became Princess of Monaco. 

The actor Ryan Gosling was born on November 12, 1980. He was born at the same hospital in London, Ontario as the pop star Justin Bieber and co-star Rachel McAdams. A Mickey Mouse Club child actor. he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in the romantic musical La La Land (2016). He has also starred in the films The Notebook, DriveCrazy, Stupid, Love and First Man. 

For more November 12th anniversaries, including the marriage of Philip II of Spain to his cousin, Maria Manuela of Portugal, the UK Conservative party's first annual conference and the opening of Abbey Road studios, check out OnThatDay.