On this day: February 12
POSTED: 04:16 PM PST Feb 11, 2013
UPDATED: 11:00 PM PST Feb 11, 2013
Charles Darwin and Abe Lincoln share a birthday, Superman makes his radio debut, President Clinton is acquitted in his impeachment trial, and Charles Schulz passes away, all on this day.
Library of Congress
1876: Al Spalding, then a pitcher and the manager of the Chicago White Stockings baseball team, opens a sporting good shop with his brother. In 1877, Spalding began to use a glove to protect his catching hand, providing a boost for the gloves his company sold. The company also standardized early baseballs and developed the modern baseball bat with the bulge at its apex. Today, the company specializes in the production of balls for many sports, but is most-known for its basketballs, as the official ball provider for both the NBA and the WNBA.
