November 19, 1997: Septuplets are born to Bobby and Kenny McCaughey (pronounced like "McCoy") in Des Moines, Iowa: Kenny Jr., Alexis, Natalie, Kelsey, Nathan, Brandon and Joel.
They were the world's first seven-baby birth to all survive infancy.
The McCaugheys already had one daughter, Mikayla, born on January 3, 1996. While under treatment with ovulation-stimulating Metrodin, Bobbi became pregnant with seven fetuses. She and Kenny declined "selective reduction," which would have aborted one or more to give the others a better chance, saying that they would "put it in God's hands."
The 4 boys and 3 girls were born prematurely, at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center, delivered by a scheduled Caesarean section, all within 6 minutes, attended by a team of 40 specialists.
The babies attracted the attention of the entire country. TV networks jockeyed for chances to interview the parents. They received gifts including a 5,500-square-foot house, a fan, 2 years' worth of diapers (I don't want to know how that was calculated), clothes, and the State of Iowa offered full college scholarships to any State-run university upon their graduation from high school.
The parents received a phone call from President Bill Clinton, and the surviving Dionne Quintuplets -- Yvonne, Annette and Cecile -- wrote them an open letter, congratulating the parents, but warning them to keep the children out of the public eye, and to try not to fall into the same pitfalls as their own parents did in Canada, 62 years earlier.
On The Tonight Show, Jay Leno had dancers dress up as giant babies, performing as "The Dancing Septuplets." Not that he or anyone affiliated with the show could have known at the time, but, in hindsight, this was in bad taste: Alexis and Nathan both have cerebral palsy, and use walkers to get around.
By the time of the septuplets turned 10 in 2007, the family was declining most requests for interviews, other than annual stories with the KCCI-Channel 8, the CBS affiliate in Des Moines, and the magazine Ladies' Home Journal. TLC, formerly known as The Learning Channel, made a documentary about them for their 13th birthday.
The 7 kids graduated from Carlisle High School in 2016. Rather than go to any of the State schools, 4 of them -- Natalie, Kelsey, Nathan and Joel -- accepted another of the scholarship offers they received at birth, from Hannibal-LaGrange University in Hannibal, Missouri, which is affiliated with their faith, the Southern Baptist Convention. Kenny Jr. and Alexis stayed close to home, going to Des Moines Area Community College. Brandon enlisted in the U.S. Army.
The McCaughey Septuplets, October 2022
Older sister Mikayla got married in 2015, and had a baby boy in 2017. Brandon is still in the Army, holds the rank of Sergeant, and is married with a daughter. Kenny Jr. is a cabinetmaker, married, and his first child is due within days of this posting. Kelsey is married, and works as a medical receptionist. Natalie is married, and working on her master's degree in athletic training. The rest are single: Joel and Nathan work at IT jobs, and Alexis works at a day care center.
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November 19, 1997 was a Wednesday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 8 games played in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Boston Celtics, 108-100 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Bullets, 97-86 at the CoreStates Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 106-92 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
* The Miami Heat beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 122-113 at the Miami Arena.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-93 in overtime at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) in Cleveland.
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 108-87 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 118-93 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 107-87 at the KeyArena in Seattle.
And there were 7 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3 at the Ice Palace (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.
* The New York Islanders beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-1 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Dallas Stars beat the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* And the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
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