Today we’d like to wish a very happy birthday to the very funny Sarah Chalke! Take a look at how this Canadian actress made her mark on American television screens in this biography we found on Starpulse.com:

Ottawa-born Sarah Chalke first gained notoriety in 1993 when, at the beginning of the show’s sixth season, she was cast on ABC’s hit sitcom Roseanne as oldest daughter Becky, a role that had previously been filled by Alicia Goranson, who exited the show for college. Chalke continued to play Becky for two seasons until Goranson returned, but the two actresses took turns playing the character throughout the season. Goranson left again before the show’s ninth and final season, and Chalke resumed the role full-time.

Following the end of Roseanne, Chalke took on a role in the Canadian series Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy. While that show only lasted nine episodes, it would only be a couple more years before the actress found herself on another hit series. In 2001, she was cast as Elliot Reid, the female lead opposite Zach Braff on the cult hit NBC medical comedy Scrubs.

In addition to her series television work, Chalke has acted in a number of made-for-TV movies and small independent films over the years. In 2007 she had her first role in a high-profile Hollywood movie with a supporting turn alongside Jon Heder and Diane Keaton in the comedy Mama’s Boy.

Have a great one, Sarah!

Today, August 26, is the anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. Here’s some more information on the historic bill and the struggle that it took to get it ratified that we found on kids.aol.com:

The story of the fight for women’s suffrage took place during a time when women were not allowed to own property, take part in public life, or vote. The movement officially began when women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott held the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. After the Civil War (1860-1865) the women’s movement, which had spoken out about freeing the slaves, expected that both women and slaves would be granted the same rights as white men. The government treated them as separate issues, dismissing the cause of women’s rights. This was an outrage for the movement and in 1866 women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the American Equal Rights Association.

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Today, August 25 gives a lot of people a reason to celebrate! We’d like to wish a very happy birthday to the following standouts in cooking, modeling, directing, singing, and acting: Rachael Ray, Claudia Schiffer, Tim Burton, Elvis Costello, Billy Ray Cyrus, Sean Connery, Blair Underwood, Blake Lively, and Rachel Bilson!

If you have children with birthdays that fall close together, or a child with a friend that wants to do a joint birthday party, make sure to check out this thoughtful blog post from stopdropandblog.com that discusses the pros and cons of a joint birthday bash.

Today, the young actor whom you may know best as Ron Weasley turns a magical 22. Before he was playing quiddich and fighting evil wizards, though, Rupert was a just a schoolboy in England. Check out how he got his start in this biography we found on Starpulse.com:

Rupert Grint made his big-screen debut in 2001′s box-office smash Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, bringing to life Ronald Weasley, friend to the famous protagonist Harry Potter of J.K. Rowling’s children’s novel.

Born in England in 1988, Grint had only performed in plays for school and local theater in Europe before making the giant leap into Hollywood with Harry Potter. He scored a role in the family comedy Thunderpants soon afterward, but was kept busy for the next several years as audiences saw him grow up alongside co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson while appearing in the ongoing Harry Potter sequels.

He emerged in 2006 with a starring role in the well-received comedy drama Driving Lessons, alongside Hollywood heavyweights Julie Walters and Laura Linney.

Check Rupert out in part one of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 3D and IMAX on November 19, 2010!

August 24 is Ride the Wind day, and what better way to celebrate a summer breeze than by flying a kite? Here’s a fun and simple kite-making activity we found at tlc.howstuffworks.com:

What You’ll Need:

One 12-inch wood dowel with 1/8-inch diameter
One 24-inch wood dowel with 1/8-inch ­diameter
Strong string or cord
Ruler
Blunt scissors
Wrapping paper
Craft glue
Colored tissue paper

Step 1. Make a cross with the wood dowels. The longer dowel should be positioned vertically. Use a piece of strong string or cord to tightly tie the two dowels together at the cross section. Cut a piece of wrapping paper in a 16 × 28-inch diamond shape. Cut off the corners to make tabs. Place the crossed dowels in the center of the paper diamond.

Step 2. Put a dot of glue at the end of each dowel. Run a long piece of string around the dowel frame through the glue. Add another dot of glue to each end to cover the string. Let the glue set. Fold the wrapping paper tabs over the string and glue each tab in place. Let the glue set.

Step 3. To make the flight cord, cut a piece of string and tie each end to the horizontal dowel. To make the kite string, cut a long piece of string and tie it to the center of the flight cord. Tie a piece of string to the bottom of the vertical dowel for the kite tail. Make tissue paper bows to fold over the string and glue in place. Let the glue dry, then fly your kite!

For illustrated instructions and more information on kite flying, go here.

There are less than 10 days left in August, and you don’t want miss out on celebrating peach month with a delicious, healthy bite into a fresh peach. Here are some fun facts we found about peaches at www.factmonster.com to whet your appetite:

Peaches were once known as Persian apples.

“You’re a real peach” originated from the tradition of giving a peach to the friend you liked.

Peaches were mentioned as early as 79 A.D. in literature.

There are over 700 varieties of peaches-some Chinese varieties are even flat like hockey pucks!

In China the peach is a symbol of longevity and good luck.

1565 is the starting date of the first peach orchard in Florida.

Nectarines are just peaches without the fuzz!

“Free-stone” peach just refers to how the flesh of the peach separates from the pit.

Peaches are sometimes referred to as “stone” fruit due to their pits.

Today, we’d like to wish a very happy 21st birthday to Hayden Panettiere! This young actress got her start in Hollywood doing commercials when she was only 11 months old. By the time she was four, she landed a role on the soap opera One Life to Live where she stayed until 1997. After that, she switched soaps and played Lizzie Spalding on Guiding Light until 2000. Bigger things were coming for the eleven-year-old, though, when she appeared in Remember the Titans alongside Denzel Washington in 2000.

After stints on Ally McBeal and Malcom in the Middle and a supporting role in Raising Helen with Kate Hudson, Hayden’s big break finally came in 2006 when she was cast in the NBC show Heroes as a cheerleader with regenerative super powers.

Currently filming Scream 4, Hayden has a future that looks anything but scary. Have a great one, Hayden!

Yesterday, we celebrated human flight, but today we’re taking one small step into space! On this day in 1977, NASA launched the unmanned spacecraft Voyager 2. It was the first space probe to explore the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, where it also discovered and photographed many previously unknown moons, rings and other features of the planets. A record player carried on board contained greetings in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.

Take a minute for a little space exploration with your family today and go check out some of the cool shots from the Voyager 2 in NASA’s photo gallery.

Today, we would like to celebrate an outstanding right-fielder and the first Hispanic player inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, Roberto Clemente. Check out this neat biography we found of “The Great One” at the Smithsonian Education website:

As a boy in Puerto Rico, Clemente displayed both a love and an aptitude for the game of baseball. The Brooklyn Dodgers signed him in 1953, and placed him on a farm team in Montreal. A year later, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he remained for the rest of his career. Clemente’s baseball achievements were numerous. He won twelve Gold Glove awards, given annually to the best league defensive player at each position, and he made fourteen All-Star appearances.

As a batter, he hit above .300 for thirteen seasons, and he topped the National League’s batting list four times. In 1960 and 1971, he led the Pirates to world championships, and in 1966, with 29 home runs, a batting average of .314, and 119 RBIs to his credit, he claimed his league’s Most Valuable Player award. A baseball veteran once called him “a one-man team.”

During his eighteenth major-league season in 1972, Clemente was still at the top of his form. In his last game that year, he became the eleventh major league player to accumulate 3,000 career hits. However, tragedy struck that New Year’s Eve. Long dedicated to supporting Latin America, he died in a plane crash while on his way to Managua, Nicaragua, to help in relief operations following a severe earthquake.

In Puerto Rico, which had been the beneficiary of so much of his generosity, Clemente’s death was deeply mourned. At his funeral, the Puerto Rican governor, Rafael Hernandez Colon, declared, “Our people have lost one of their great glories.” Not long afterward, baseball paid its own tribute to Clemente by waiving the post-career five-year waiting period to induct Clemente into its Hall of Fame.