If you’ve ever read a legal thriller, chances are it was written by today’s birthday boy — American author John Grisham.

A successful lawyer in Mississippi, John found moments of spare time to escape the courtroom and focus on his first love — writing.

John began writing what he knew best and soon became one of the most popular artists in the world, selling over 250 million books worldwide!

To learn more about how John turned a law degree into publishing gold, check out his bio at www.jgrisham.com/bio.

Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn’t have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected to the state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl’s father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.

Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, The Appeal, and The Associate) and all of them have become international bestsellers. There are currently over 250 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marked his first foray into non-fiction, and Ford County (November 2010) was his first short story collection.

Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honoring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer: representing the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. Preparing his case with the same passion and dedication as his books’ protagonists, Grisham successfully argued his clients’ case, earning them a jury award of $683,500—the biggest verdict of his career.

Country music superstar, Garth Brooks, turns the big 4-8 today!

Pretty much every music lover is a Garth Brooks fan! By integrating rock elements into his music, he successfully moved beyond country music and into the pop music arena — becoming a mainstream hit.

Transcending genres, it’s no surprise that Garth has had one of the most successful careers in country music history — breaking records for both sales and concert attendance through the ‘90s!

To date, his album sales are over 68.3 million, making him the best-selling albums artist in the U.S. — even more successful than the Beatles!

Now retired from the touring circuit, he is regular performer in Las Vegas

Happy birthday, Garth! Here’s to many more.

Oh, and for all you football fans, happy Super Bowl Sunday!

The more birthdays crew had an amazing day at the Utah Olympic Park, hanging out with the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team!

This incredible group of athletes is helping us spread the word about our movement and what each and every one of us can to do help reduce our risk of cancer and live to celebrate more birthdays! We took a ton of great footage — so stay tuned for more on our day with the Olympians

Until then, check out some of our photos — and go USA!

Happy birthday Woman’s Day magazine! The popular health and beauty magazine celebrates its 79th birthday this month!

First published in 1931, Woman’s Day began as a free A&P in-store recipe planner, but quickly grew to become one of the most popular publications in the country. Today the magazine has over 21 million readers!

Unlike so many magazines out there today, Woman’s Day really focuses on helping women and their families do what they can to live well!

But it’s not just about healthy living. Woman’s Day aims to make all of our lives just a little bit easier — and we could all use a little help. Whether it’s picking out a Valentine’s Day gift for your significant other or saving some extra cash this month,Woman’s Day is there for you

Check it out for yourself at www.womansday.com!

Throughout the years, I’ve been given more than my fair share of opal jewelry (yes, I’m an October birthday) and I’ve always wondered where the concept of birthstones came from. To satisfy my curiosity, I turned to King’s Jewelry.

The origin of the birthstone goes back thousands of years to the time of Moses. It was at his command that the Breast Plate of the High Priest was made with the twelve colors, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, and a corresponding gemstone was attributed to each color. Over the centuries, the number twelve developed mystical proportions. There were twelve tribes of ancient Israel, twelve apostles, twelve foundation stones of the Holy City, twelve months of the year and twelve signs of the zodiac. As time passed, people wanted to own all twelve stones of the sacred Breast Plate and began wearing one gemstone set into a piece of jewelry each month and changing it as the months changed. Eventually, in a quest for individuality, people began wearing only his or her stone of birth all year, giving birth to the twelve birthstones. Each birthstone supposedly represents a magical power. Some were said to ward off evil, protect the wearer in battle, cure blindness, gout and palsy, and even immunize the wearer from drunkenness.

Interesting! So in honor of all you February birthdays, here’s some information on what your birthstone means!

The Amethyst was credited with many other extraordinary attributes. Among its reputed benefits was an ability to quicken the intelligence and make the owner more successful in business, protect the soldier and assure victory, help hunters, guard against contagious diseases, and control evil thoughts.

To men, the amethyst promised sober judgment and industry; to women, lofty thoughts and religious love.

Can you believe that Facebook is only 6 years old today! It’s hard to remember how we communicated without it!

Yes, Facebook has become a global phenomenon. During its brief 4 years, it has quickly evolved from a social networking site for a few university students to a network of over 350 million dedicated users!

We’ve all lost touch with more friends than we’d like to admit, but Facebook has made it easy for us to rekindle old relationships and keep track of friends and family members — no matter where they are!

But Facebook isn’t just about connecting with friends both past and present. It also gives each and every one of us another avenue to support the causes that are near and dear to our hearts — like the movement for more birthdays!

So who is responsible for this internet revolution? That would be 25-year old Harvard dropout, Mark Zuckerberg.

To learn more about Mark and his online phenomenon, check out his interview with 60 Minutes. And if you haven’t visited it yet, check out our More Birthdays Facebook page!

Today we are celebrating Norman Rockwell’s birthday and the over 4,000 original works of art he created during his 84 years!

The 20th-century painter and illustrator was immensely popular in the U.S., most notably for the illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine. In fact, Rockwell created 322 covers over his 47 years illustrating for the publication!

So what made Rockwell so successful? According to the artist, “If a picture wasn’t going very well, I’d put a puppy in it.” Always seems to do the trick

To learn more about Rockwell, check out the Farmers’ Almanac!

Rockwell was born in 1894 in New York City. He attended the Chase Art School, and then went to the National Academy of Design and later to the Art Students League. In 1913, Rockwell was hired as the art director for Boy’s Life, a publication of the Boy Scouts of America.

Rockwell attempted to enlist in the U.S. Navy during World War I, but was rejected because he was several pounds underweight. Not to be deterred, Rockwell went on an all-night eating binge and gained enough weight for the military to enlist him the next day. However, he was assigned the role of military artist and never saw any combat action during his tour of duty. In 1943, Rockwell painted a patriotic series called “The Four Freedoms.” Exhibition of these works helped raise almost $140 million for the World War II bond effort.

Rockwell also illustrated calendars for the Boy Scouts of America from 1925 until 1976. Later in his career, Rockwell spent ten years painting for Look magazine, where he focused on his interests in civil rights, poverty, and space exploration. He was commissioned to paint portraits for Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, as well as other high profile figures such as Judy Garland. In 1977, Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for a civilian.

Today is the 140th birthday of the 15th Amendment!

The last of the so-called Reconstruction Amendments, the 15th Amendment prohibits the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race.

Talk about a birthday worth celebrating!

The 15th Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870. Almost 2 months later, Thomas Mundy Peterson cast his ballot in a school board election in New Jersey, becoming the first African American to vote in an election under the newly enacted provisions!

To learn more about the ratification of the 15th Amendment, visit Harpweek.com!

Running out of creative ideas for birthday gifts? Why not make a birthday gift basket?

Making a gift basket is really easy and can be personalized for any recipient! Check out great-birthday-gift-ideas.com for more useful guidelines to help you assemble an amazing birthday gift!

Things you will need to create your gift basket:
Basket (or any other container)
Shredded paper
Wrapping paper
Cellophane
Ribbon / raffia
Bow

Basket’s theme
To make your own gift basket, your first step will be to decide on the basket’s ‘theme’ so that it will be personalized.

To do so, simply think of your recipient, what are his likings, hobbies or interests and fit the theme accordingly. It may take you a while to figure it out, but it is afford worthy.

Choosing a basket
Choose a basket or any other container that will match your theme. Don’t limit yourself to baskets only, other good alternatives are terra cotta pots, serving dishes, serving tray, nice containers, tool boxes, lunch boxes, tote bags, popcorn boxes etc.

In addition, when you make your own gift basket, you will need to take into consideration the final size you want it to be.

Shredded paper
If you want your gift items to be visible, you’ll need to fill the bottom of the basket with shredded paper. It is available in many colors and styles at most craft stores, but I recommend using a neutral color like white or kraft so it will blend nicely with your gift items.

Enhancements
To enhance your gift basket you can tie a ribbon or raffia around every gift item in the basket or to individually wrap them with cellophane, gift wrap paper or even colourful scrapbook paper.

Arranging the basket
When you make your own gift basket you can place the items in the container as you like, but for a professional looking basket, consider placing small items towards the front of the basket while taller items go in back.

Another design can be positioning tall items in the centre, with medium items around, and small ones on the outside.

Now, you are almost done.

After you placed all the ingredients inside the basket a nice touch will be to add silk greenery, silk flowers, dried flowers, or dried potpourri. Or you can sprinkle individually wrapped candies, Hershey’s kisses, or jelly beans throughout the items in the basket.

Finishing
Place the basket on top of a cellophane (To determine the length of the cellophane needed to wrap the basket, measure both sides of the basket and add a few inches) fold the sides up, and tie it off with some ribbon.

Add the bow. Make a nice bow with long curved tails, or Affix a ready-made bow. At this point, if the cellophane ‘petals’ are too long for your liking, you can trim them with scissors.

Attach the gift tag with string or tape it to the front cellophane.

And you’re done! Isn’t it beautiful?

I recently stumbled upon a piece in TIME magazine, and while it’s rare for me to share news articles with you all, I can’t help but think this piece deserves a place on the Official Birthday Blog.

Nancy Gibbs, Editor-at-Large for TIME magazine, recently penned an article, “What’s So Great About Big Birthdays,” a piece that questions the importance of large birthday celebrations for our “midlife birthdays.” According to Gibbs:

When you’re little, every birthday is a big one. But as you grow up, it’s O.K. to let them get small. I have mixed feelings about how midlife birthdays, once easily waved at as they passed quietly by, have spun so far out of control, thanks to Facebook alerts and my generation’s abiding commitment to our eternal youth.

Gibbs got me thinking about birthday celebrations. Yes, it’s true — I don’t celebrate my birthday with the same youthful vigor that I once did, but it’s not really about what you do to celebrate your birthday. Whether one chooses to throw an extravagant party or do nothing at all, each birthday is a milestone, an accomplishment. Or as Gibbs says, “I count it as a gift to have reached an age at which I am content to observe the date — or overlook it.”

So as we get older and find the distractions of everyday life make it more challenging to celebrate our birthdays with the same enthusiasm we once did, we can be grateful that our age has taught us how special one more candle, one more cake, and one more celebration with the people we love truly is.

Or in the words of Nancy Gibbs:

Who has time to stop and look closely at the calendar? But when we do, when we gather with friends and count our blessings, what I find I’m most grateful for, nestled so deeply here in middle age, is being able to watch the candles flicker, and marvel at how many birthday wishes past have already come true.

Read the full article at TIME magazine.