TODAY IS ... 21 NOVEMBER

TODAY IS ... 21 NOVEMBER

BIRTHDAYS: 1984 - Jena Malone - an American actress and musician. Her film work has been mainly in independent films, and she has acted in theatre. She made her cinema debut with the movie Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), and has appeared in films including Contact (1997), Stepmom (1998), Donnie Darko (2001), Saved! (2004), and Into the Wild (2007).

Jena Malone

1970 - Justin Lee Langer - is a former Australian cricketer who represented Australia in 105 Test matches. A left-handed batsman, his opening partnership with Matthew Hayden was one of the most successful of all time. On 23 July 2009, in a match against Worcestershire, Langer became the highest scoring Australian in first-class cricket.

Justin Lee Langer

1965 - Bjork - an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, actress and music producer, whose work includes seven solo albums and two film soundtracks. She is best known for her expressive vocals, broad soprano vocal range, and a diverse and eclectic musical style, which incorporates influences from many different genres, including pop, alternative rock, jazz, ambient, electronic, classical, folk and trip hop, as well as her eccentric costumes and music videos. Her singles "It's Oh So Quiet", "Army of Me" and "Hyperballad" all charted in the UK Top 10. For her performance in Dancer in the Dark, Björk won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival

Bjork

1952 - Lorna Luft - an American television, stage, and film actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and Sid Luft, and the half-sister of singer and actress Liza Minnelli.

Lorna Luft

1950 - Born on this day, Livingston Taylor, singer, songwriter, (brother of James Taylor), 1978 US No. 30 single 'I Will Be In Love With You').

Livingston Taylor

1945 - Goldie Hawn - an American actress, film director and producer, whose career has spanned nearly four decades. Hawn is perhaps best known for her roles in Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Wildcats, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and The Banger Sisters. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1969 film Cactus Flower. She is also the mother of actor Oliver Hudson, and actress Kate Hudson.

Goldie Hawn

1944 - Harold Ramis - an American actor, director, and writer, specializing in comedy. Best-known film acting roles are as Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984) and Russell Ziskey in Stripes (1981); Ramis also co-wrote both films. As a writer/director, his films include the Caddyshack (1980), Groundhog Day (1993), and Analyze This (1999).

Harold Ramis

OTHER EVENTS: 2006 – The Black Eyed Peas take home three awards at the 2006 American Music Awards, held at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium and broadcast live on ABC. The Peas, which accept the awards via satellite from Costa Rica, are named favorite group in the soul/R&B and rap/hip-hop categories, and pick up honors for favorite album (”Monkey Business”) in the rap/hip-hop genre.

2006 - John Tartaglia and Jonathan Freeman join the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast. Tartaglia assumes the role of Lumiere and Freeman the role of Cogsworth.

2002 – Changing Lanes starts screening in Australia starring Ben Affleck, Samuel L Jackson and Toni Collette. The story of what happens one day in New York when a young lawyer and a businessman share a small automobile accident on F.D.R. Drive and their mutual road rage escalates into a feud

2000 – The Backstreet Boys’ “Black & Blue” debuts with one of the biggest initial retail shipments ever, with about 6 million units. 1999 - Celine Dion went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'All The Way...A Decade Of Songs', her fourth UK No.1 album.

1998 – Danish pop act Aqua and Delhi-based quartet Silk Route top the third annual Channel V Awards in Delhi, India. Aqua wins best international song and video for Barbie Girl and album for “Aquarium.” Silk Route wins best Indian newcomer, Indian group and Indian song for “Dooba Dooba.” 1992 - Michael Bolton went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Timeless, (The Classics). 1992 - Charles and Eddie were at No.1 in the UK singles chart with 'Would I Lie To You' the debut single by the pop-soul duo and their only chart topper. 1990 - Madonna was sued by her next door neighbour for having a hedge, which blocked his view. 1985 – Roger Moore, Christopher Walken and Tanya Roberts head the cast of A View to Kill which commenced screening in Australia. An investigation of a horse-racing scam leads 007 to a mad industrialist who plans to create a worldwide microchip monopoly by destroying California's Silicon Valley.

1983 - Michael Jackson's 14-minute video for 'Thriller', was premiered in Los Angeles. 1981 - Olivia Newton John started a ten week run at No.1 in the US singles chart with 'Physical', the singers fourth US No.1 went on to sell over 2 million copies, a No.7 hit in the UK. 1980 - An estimated 83 million viewers tuned in to find out "who shot J.R." on the CBS prime-time soap opera Dallas. Kristin was the character that fired the gun. 1978 - Prince's second single "Just As Long As We're Together" was released. 1975 - At the start of Elton John week in Los Angeles, the singer received a Star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame.

1973 - President Richard Nixon's attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the existence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate. 1970 - The Partridge Family started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Think I Love You'. The song was featured in the first episode of the Partridge Family TV series, made by the same company that made The Monkees. 1964 - New York's Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened.

Verrazano Narrows Bridge

1963 - Dusty Springfield debuts on UK chart with 'I Only Want to Be with You' 1961 - Mississippi's segregation laws for buses and public transportation are ruled unconstitutional by a federal court. 1959 - Jack Benny (violin) & Richard Nixon (piano) play their famed duet 1954 - American singer and actress Rosemary Clooney was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'This Ole House.' This song was also a No.1 for Shakin' Stevens in 1981. 1953 - The discovery of the Piltdown Man skull by Charles Dawson in Sussex in 1912 was revealed as a hoax 1953 - "Rags to Riches" by Tony Bennett topped the charts and stayed there for 8 weeks. 1934 - Cole Porter’s "Anything Goes" opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. The show ran for 420 performances.

1931 - Frankenstein The famous film, starring Boris Karloff as the monster, opens.

1877 - Thomas Edison announces his invention of a 'talking machine', which preceded the phonograph.

Thomas Edison with the Phonograph

1783 - First manned balloon free flight: Jean Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent d'Arlandes in a 25-minute flight over Paris. They covered six miles and reached an altitude of about 300 feet.

First Manned Air Balloon 1783