Monday, December 21, 2009

TODAY IS ... 21 DECEMBER

TODAY IS ... 21 DECEMBER
BIRTHDAYS: 1984 - Jackson Rathbone - an American actor and singer. He is perhaps best known for his role as Jasper Hale in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's novels Twilight and The Twilight Saga: New Moon. 1978 - Michael Vitar - an American former child actor who most notably appeared in The Sandlot as Benny "the Jet" Rodriguez and as Luis Mendoza in D2: The Mighty Ducks and D3: The Mighty Ducks. He retired from acting after 1997, and since 2002, he has been a firefighter for the Los Angeles fire department 1969 - Jack Noseworthy - actor: Encino Man, The Brady Bunch Movie, Barb Wire, Trigger Affect, Event Horizon, Breakdown, Idle Hands, U-571 1969 - Julie Delpy - perhaps best known as Ethan Hawke's co-star in Richard Linklater's one-night-in-Vienna romance Before Sunrise (1995) and its sequel, Before Sunset (2004).also The Three Musketeers, Killing Zoe, White, An American Werewolf in Paris, Crime and Punishment 1966 - Karri Turner - actress: JAG, Wild Oats, Hollywood Squares, The X Files 1966 - Kiefer Sutherland - actor: An Eye for an Eye, The Vanishing, The Three Musketeers, A Few Good Men, Young Guns series, Flatliners, Bright Lights Big City, Brotherhood of Justice, Twin Peaks 1959 - Florence Griffith-Joyner - also known as Flo-Jo was an African American track and field athlete. Inb 1984 she gained much more attention, though mostly because of her extremely long and colorful fingernails rather than her silver medal in the Los Angeles Olympics 200 m. 1957 - Ray Romano - an Emmy Award winning American actor, writer, and stand-up comedian, best known for his role on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond and Manny in Ice Age, and its sequels,Ice Age: The Meltdown and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 1954 - Chris Evert - a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. 1948 - Samuel L. Jackson - actor: has appeared in over 100 films including Die Hard with a Vengeance, The 51st State, Jackie Brown, Unbreakable, The Incredibles, Black Snake Moan, Snakes on a Plane, as well as the Star Wars prequel trilogy and small roles in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Inglourious Basterds. Jackson's many roles have made him one of the highest grossing actors at the box office 1946 - Josh Mostel - actor: City Slickers series, The Chase, Little Man Tate, Wall Street, Radio Days, The Money Pit, Sophie’s Choice, Harry and Tonto, Jesus Christ, Superstar, The King of Marvin Gardens, Murphy’s Law, Delta House, At Ease
Josh Mostel as Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar
1940 - Ray Hildebrand of Paul and Paula, (1963 US No.1 & UK No.8 single, 'Hey Paula').
Ray Hildebrand in Paul and Paula
1937 - Jane Fonda - Academy Award-winning actress: Coming Home [1978], Klute [1971]; Barbarella, The China Syndrome, Cat Ballou, They Shoot Horses Don’t They, On Golden Pond; ex-wife of Time-Warner’s Ted Turner; daughter of actor Henry Fonda; sister of actor Peter; exercise videos; Vietnam-era peace activist 1935 - Phil Donahue - an Emmy Award-winning American media personality, writer, and film producer, best known as the creator and star of The Phil Donahue Show, also known as Donahue, the first tabloid talk show. The show had a 26-year run on U.S. national TV, preceded by three years of local broadcast in Dayton, Ohio, before ending in 1996. OTHER EVENTS: 2007 - Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest-ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days. 2003 – Gary Jules and Michael Andrews are the UK’s Christmas No. 1 after topping the singles charts with their cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.” The Darkness enter the chart at No. 2 with “Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End).” 1999 – Inspector Gadget starring Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett and Joely Fisher started screening in Australia. A security guard's dreams come true when he is selected to be transformed into a cybernetic police officer. 1998 – Celine Dion, whose Oscar-winning single “My Heart Will Go On” powered record-breaking sales of the “Titanic” soundtrack, is named the top-selling artist of 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America. 1995 – The city of Bethlehem passes from Israeli to Palestinian control. 1991 - 'Bohemian Rhapsody / These Are The Days Of Our Lives' by Queen started a five week run at No.1 in the UK, the 1975 word-wide hit had been re-released following the death of Freddie Mercury. 1991 - The Soviet Union formally ceased to exist and was dissolved into Russia and fourteen other independent countries. The U.S. supported the change and pledged to extend as much help as possible to the new Russian state under Boris Yeltsin. 1989 – Danny De Vito directed and starred in War of Roses co-starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Sean Astin started screening in Australia. A married couple try everything to get each other to leave the house in a vicious divorce battle. 1989 - Cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov return to Earth after spending a record 366 days in orbit. 1989 - Vice-Pres. Dan Quayle sends out 30,000 misspelled Christmas cards: "May our nation continue to be the beakon of hope." 1988 - Buena Vista Pictures premieres the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Beaches in a New York theater. The film is a Bette Midler drama made by Garry Marshall for Disney. 1988 - Pan Am World Airways Flight 103 was the target of a terrorist attack this day. The jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 259 passengers and crew, plus eleven people who were on the ground at the site of the crash. 1986 - 75th Davis Cup: Australia beats Sweden in Melbourne (3-2) 1985 - Lionel Richie started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Say You, Say Me', a No.8 hit in the UK. 1985 - Bruce Springsteen’s album, Born in the USA, passed Michael Jackson’s Thriller to become the second longest-lasting LP in the top 10. It stayed there for 79 weeks. Only The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews, lasted longer: 109 weeks. 1979 – Lancaster House Agreement: An independence agreement for Rhodesia is signed in London by Lord Carrington, Sir Ian Gilmour, Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and S.C. Mundawarara. 1978 – Superman starring Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder started screening on Australia. An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest super-hero. 1976 – “Barry Manilow on Broadway” opens for a two-week sold-out run in New York. 1976 - U.N. General Assembly passes a resolution declaring 1979 - Year of Child 1974 - Mud were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Chinn & Chapman song 'Lonely This Christmas'. The group's second No.1 and third chart topper for Chinn & Chapman in 1974. 1974 - "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin topped the charts and stayed there for a week. 1974 - The Doobie Brothers' "Black Water" is released. 1971 – The United Nations Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General. 1970 - Three new albums are certified gold: Traffic's reunion album, "John Barleycorn Must Die," the original British studio recording of "Jesus Christ Superstar" and Judy Collins' "In my Life." 1970 – “Hey Old Man,” the first single by the Festfolk Quartet – later known as ABBA – reaches No. 5 in Sweden. 1970 - Elvis Presley met with President Richard M. Nixon in the Oval Office to discuss fighting drugs. 1969 - The Supremes made their last TV appearance together with Diana Ross on 'The Ed Sullivan show', singing their last No.1 'Someday We'll Be Together'. 1968 - Apollo 8 (Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders) is launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the first manned Moon voyage. 1967 - The Rolling Stones LP, Their Satanic Majesties Request, was released. It cost $50,000 to produce and came complete with a 3-D photograph of the Stones on the cover. 1966 - The Beach Boys received a gold record for the single, Good Vibrations. 1965 – David Lean directed Dr Zhivago starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger and Alec Guinness which started screening in Australia. Life of a Russian doctor/poet who, although married, falls for a political activist's wife and experiences hardships during the Bolshevik Revolution. 1961 - Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn star in The Guns of Navaronne which starts screening in Australia. A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel. 1961 - Beatles record "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Ready Teddy"
IMAGEBeatles 1961
1946 - Louis Jordan's single, "Let the Good Times Roll," debuted on the rhythm and blues charts. 1945 - Disney's Donald Duck cartoon Old Sequoia, directed by Jack King, is released. Park Ranger Donald is in charge of making sure a tree "Old Sequoia" doesn't get gnawed down by pesky beavers. 1937 - RKO Radio Pictures world premieres Disney's first full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood. It is the industry's first full-length animated movie. The US$1.5 million needed to complete the film nearly bankrupted the company. This is the first public appearance of live-actor cartoon characters at the theater - dwarfs, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Two million drawings make up the 83 minute film 1936 - First major U.S. ski resort opens, in Sun Valley, Idaho. 1929 - Disney completes the Mickey Mouse film Wild Waves. Minnie Mouse also appears. 1914 - Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Mack Swain appeared in the first six-reel, feature-length comedy. The film was directed by Mack Sennett and was lovingly titled, Tillie’s Punctured Romance. 1913 - Readers of the New York World Sunday edition were treated to a crossword puzzle as an added feature of the Fun supplement. 1901 - First transatlantic radio signal is broadcast, from England to Newfoundland, by Guglielmo Marconi. 1894 - The South Australian government becomes one of the first in the world to grant women the right to vote. 1898 - Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium. 1620 - The Mayflower, and its passengers, pilgrims from England, landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts.

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