Bristol Palin gives birth to a boy

People

It's a boy!

The 18-year-old daughter of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has given birth in Alaska to a son. People magazine reports that Bristol Palin gave birth to Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston on Sunday. He weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. The father is Levi Johnston, a former hockey player at Alaska's Wasilla High School. He has said he and Bristol plan to marry.

Happy Birthday, Abe

A "Happy 200th Birthday" card is tough to find. But that's just what the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is looking for. The group is asking people to send cards to Lincoln for his 200th birthday, on Feb. 12. The 16th president even has an official address with the U.S. Postal Service: Abraham Lincoln, Old State Capitol, 1 Old State Capitol Plaza, Springfield, IL. The commission says the cards it receives may be used for displays or publicity.

Passages

Freddie Hubbard, 70, the Grammy-winning jazz musician whose style influenced a generation of trumpet players and who collaborated with such greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, died Monday, a month after suffering a heart attack.

Ted Lapidus, 79, the fashion designer known for creating the unisex image in the 1960s, has died. An assistant of Rose Torrente-Mett's, Lapidus' sister, says the designer died Monday in a hospital in Cannes on the Riviera, suffering from pulmonary problems. Lapidus created his label in 1951 and in 1963 he became a member of the prestigious Paris fashion circle that runs haute-couture shows.

Manjit Bawa, 67, a leading Indian artist whose work highlighted peaceful coexistence, died at his New Delhi home on Monday after three years in a coma following a stroke.

Ellie Nesler, 56, the mother who in 1993 shot to death in a Northern California courtroom the man who allegedly molested her son, died Friday.

Today in History

1853: The United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000 square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. (The area covered by the agreement is located in present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.)

1907: The Mills Commission issued its final report concluding that Abner Doubleday invented baseball, a finding that few sports historians embrace.

1994: A gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees and wounding five other people. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.)

2006: Iraqis awoke to news that Saddam Hussein had been hanged; victims of his three decades of autocratic rule took to the streets to celebrate.

Today's Birthdays

Actor Russ Tamblyn, 74. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Sandy Koufax, 73. TV director James Burrows, 68. Actor Fred Ward, 66. Singer Davy Jones, 63. Singer Patti Smith, 62. "Today Show" co-host Meredith Vieira, 55. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, 53. "Today Show" newscaster Matt Lauer, 51. Actress-comedian Tracey Ullman, 49. Radio-TV commentator Sean Hannity, 47. Runner Ben Johnson, 47. Golfer Tiger Woods, 33. TV personality-boxer Laila Ali, 31. Singer-actor Tyrese, 30. Actress Eliza Dushku, 28. Rock musician Tim Lopez (Plain White T's), 28.

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