This month's facts are about famous people that were adopted. Did you know they were adopted? I knew some but not many.
The eventual
cofounder of Apple Computers and the brain behind the iPod, Steven Paul was
adopted as an infant by Paul and Clara Jobs in February 1955. Jobs
held an internship with Hewlett-Packard and did a stint at Atari, Inc., before
he and Stephen Wozniak developed the first Apple computer. These days, the
white cord of the iPod is ubiquitous, and Macintosh computers are synonymous
with style and technical savvy.
George Herman Ruth, Jr., born in 1895 in Maryland, lost six of
his seven siblings in childhood due to disease and poverty. Babe's
tavern-owning parents placed him and his sister in orphanages, sending Babe to
St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys. It was there that Babe met Brother
Matthias, who taught him how to play baseball. The rest is history -- Babe Ruth
is one of the greatest and most beloved players to ever set foot on a baseball
field.
The childhood of
the man who would become "black power" leader Malcolm X was not a happy one. His father, Earl Little, was a Christian
minister who was killed in 1931 when Malcolm was a small boy. Following his
father's death, his mother had a nervous breakdown and was committed to a
mental hospital. Malcolm and his siblings were put into an orphanage and later
fostered by various families. Malcolm X would later convert to the Nation of
Islam and emerge as one of the most influential civil rights activists of the
modern era.
Born in 1926 to a
single mother with a less than stable mental state, legendary screen siren Marilyn Monroe
lived in many foster homes as a young girl and spent two years in an orphanage.
When she was barely 16, she had the option of another orphanage or marriage.
Monroe chose marriage to merchant marine James Dougherty, whom she remained
married to for four years. In the years following her rocky beginnings, the
blonde bombshell would nab a place in American culture unparalleled before or
since.
During his
decades-long career, baseball announcer Harry Caray called the shots for the St. Louis
Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs. Harry Christopher Carabina was
born in 1914 in one of the poorest sections of St. Louis and was still an
infant when his father died. By the time he was ten, his mother had died, too,
so an aunt raised him from that point. In 1989, Caray was inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster, and, in 1990, he joined the Radio Hall
of Fame. A statue of him stands outside legendary Wrigley Field on Chicago's
north side.
Adopted when only
a few days old, Audrey
Faith Perry was raised in Star, Mississippi, by Ted and Edna Perry.
The country music superstar was the only adopted kid in the family and formed a
good relationship with her biological mother later in life. Faith always knew
she was adopted and refers to her childhood as "amazing."
Actor and comedian
Jamie Foxx
was born Eric Bishop in 1967. His parents separated shortly thereafter, and his
mother didn't feel capable of raising him on her own, so he was adopted at
seven months by his maternal grandmother. Years later, during his Academy Award
acceptance speech for his role in the critically-acclaimed biopic Ray, Foxx thanked his grandmother
for her hard work and unconditional love. He has also hosted holiday specials
concerning adoption and often mentions the cause in interviews.
All information taken from:
*Allison
