Saturday, November 28, 2009

TODAY IS ... 28 NOVEMBER

TODAY IS ... 28 NOVEMBER
BIRTHDAYS: 1988 - Scarlett Pomers - an American actress who works in television, film, theatre and music. Her most recognizable roles have been as Naomi Wildman on Star Trek: Voyager (1998-2001) and Kyra Hart on the television series Reba (2001-2007). 1984 - Trey Songz - an American recording artist, producer and actor. He has released three studio albums: I Gotta Make It, Trey Day and Ready. 1984 - Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Gwen Grayson of Disney's 2005 Sky High, is born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina 1959 - Judd Nelson - an American actor best known for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St. Elmo's Fire and Jack Richmond in Suddenly Susan. 1950 - Ed Harris - an American actor, writer and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Creepshow, The Rock, The Right Stuff, Enemy at the Gates, The Abyss, Glengarry Glen Ross, Apollo 13, Pollock, A Beautiful Mind, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Hours, Milk Money, and The Truman Show, among many others. 1949 - Paul Shaffer - a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer. Currently, he is the bandleader and sidekick on the Late Show with David Letterman. His memoir, We'll Be Here For the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-biz Saga was published by Flying Dolphin Press on October 6, 2009. 1948 - Beeb Birtles - Australian musician: guitar: most famous as one of the founding members of the Little River Band.: It’s a Long Way There, Help is on Its Way,Reminiscing, Lady, Lonesome Loser, Take It Easy on Me 1933 - Hope Lange Emmy Award-winning actress: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir [1968-1969, 1969-1970]; Bus Stop, Peyton Place, The Young Lions, Wild in the Country,Pocketful of Miracles, That Certain Summer; 1929 - Berry Gordy Jr. - pursued a career as a boxer and served in the U.S. Army before returning to Detroit where he opened his own record store and produced recordings of his own songs. In 1959 he founded the Motown Record Corporation, which scored its first gold record with Smokey Robinson's "Shop Around" the next year. Many of Motown's early hit-makers hailed from Detroit, including the Supremes, the Four Tops, the Temptations, and Martha and the Vandellas. Other artists included Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson Five. The "Motown sound" became highly popular nationwide, and Motown Records quickly became one of the most influential companies in the business. OTHER EVENTS: 2002 – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint star in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets starts screening in Australia. Harry ignores warnings not to return to Hogwarts, only to find the school plagued by a series of mysterious attacks and a strange voice haunting him. 2000 - Madonna takes her "Music" to London's 3,500-capacity Brixton Academy for her first U.K. performance in seven years. Playing to an audience comprised of contest winners, guests, and celebrities including Sting and members of the Spice Girls, Madonna plays a half-hour set made up of five tracks from her new "Music" album and the vintage hit "Holiday." 1999 - Steps went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Steptacular.' 1999 - Cliff Richard started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Millennium Prayer', despite the record being boycotted by most radio stations. It became Cliff's 14th UK No.1. 1996 – Starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathon Frakes and Levar Burton, Star Trek: First Contact commenced screening in Australia. Capt. Picard and his crew pursue the Borg back in time to stop them from preventing Earth from initiating first contact with alien life 1995 – Brian Eno gives a speech at the awarding of the Turner Prize for art in London. “The making of new culture is England’s only growth industry aside from heritage,” he muses. “Instead of creating controversy by raising questions, trying to answer a few might not be such a bad idea.” 1992 - Whitney Houston started a record-breaking fourteen-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Will Always Love You', taken from the 'Bodyguard' soundtrack. The song was written by Dolly Parton. 1989 - Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci arrived in New York after escaping her homeland through Hungary. 1988 - Picasso’s Acrobat and Young Harlequin brought £21 million at Christie’s in London. The painting was one of many that Adolf Hitler had sold in 1939 to ‘cleanse’ Germany of the disturbing images created by painters such as Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. 1987 - REM had their first entry in the Top 10 on the US singles chart with ‘The One I Love.’ 1987 - Rick Astley went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut LP 'When You Need Somebody.' 1987 - Taken from the film 'Dirty Dancing', the Jennifer Warnes' duet with Bill Medley '(I've Had) The Time Of My Life', went to No.1 on the US singles chart. 1982 - "Pirates of Penzance" closes at Uris Theater New York City after 772 performances 1980 – Smokey and the Bandit II opened in Australia starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleeson. The Bandit goes on another cross-country run, transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas. And, once again, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is on his tail. 1979 - 257 people are killed when an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight crashes into Mount Erebus, Antarctica. 1974 - John Lennon appeared in concert for the last time -- at NYC’s Madison Square Garden. Lennon joined Elton John to sing Whatever Gets You Through the Night and I Saw Her Standing There. 1970 - Bob Dylan went to No.1 on the UK chart with the album 'New Morning'. 1966 - Several gold records are certified this day. The Righteous Brothers get one for their album "Soul and Inspiration." The Monkees earn their third gold record for "I'm a Believer," which will be Number One for seven weeks. And a gold record goes to the New Vaudeville band for their '20s style novelty song, "Winchester Cathedral." 1964 - The Shangri-Las went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the 'teen death song', 'Leader Of The Pack', it peaked at No.11 in the UK. 1960 - Elvis Presley started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Are You Lonesome Tonight', his third US No.1 of 1960. The single included a spoken passage loosely based on Shakespeare. 1956 - Holding the #1 spot on the music charts: Guy Mitchell singing Singing the Blues. The song remained at the top of the Hit Parade for 10 weeks. Ray Conniff whistled the intro to Singing the Blues. 1954 - Winifred Atwell was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Let's Have Another Party.' Atwell was the first black artist to reach No.1 in the UK and the first black artist to sell a million records. 1953 - New York City began 11 days without newspapers when a strike of photoengravers shut down publication. The good news: Sales increased for magazines and paperback books 1944 - The MGM movie musical "Meet Me in St. Louis," starring Judy Garland opened in New York. 1943 - President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin met in Tehran during World War II 1932 - The 'Dog on the Tuckerbox' statue at Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia is unveiled. 1925 - The Grand Ole Opry opens, Nashville, Tennessee. 1922 - First U.S. skywriting: Royal Air Force Capt. Cyril Turner writes "Hello, U.S.A. Call Vanderbilt 7200" 10,000 feet above Times Square in New York City. The half-mile-high letters generated 47,000 calls in 2½ hours. 1907 - Boston scrap-metal dealer Louis B. Mayer purchases a small rundown movie theatre in Haverhill, Massachusetts. (Within a few years, he will own the largest theatre chain in New England and begin distributing films. In 1917, he will start his own production company, which, through a series of mergers, will become part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM. 1905 - Sinn Fein (Gaelic for "we ourselves"), a political party dedicated to independence for all of Ireland, was founded in Dublin by Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith. 1895 - The first automobile race in America began, as six cars traveled from Jackson Park in Chicago to Waukegan, Illinois. J. Frank Duryea was the winner, traveling at a blazing speed of 7 and 1/2 miles per hour! It took him 7 hrs. 53 minutes to make the trek (bathroom stops not included). He won $2,000 for the effort.

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