Monday, December 28, 2009

TODAY IS ... 28 DECEMBER

TODAY IS ... 28 DECEMBER
BIRTHDAYS - 1990 - David Archuleta - an American pop singer-songwriter. In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of American Idol. In May 2008 he finished as the runner-up, receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes. In August 2008 Archuleta released "Crush," the first single from his self-titled debut album. The album, released two months later, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart; as of June 2009, it had sold over 725,000 copies in the U.S. and over 900,000 Worldwide. 1989 - Mackenzie Rosman - an American Actress and Singer. She is best known for her role as Ruthie Camden on The WB's longest-running show 7th Heaven. 1987 - Thomas Dekker - an American film and television actor and a musician. He is also a singer and has written and produced two albums. He is best known for his roles as John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Zach on Heroes. He also did the voice of Littlefoot in The Land Before Time V-IX (singing voice in The Land Before Time V) and as Fievel Mousekewitz in An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island and An American Tail: The Mystery of the Night Monster. 1981 - Sienna Miller - an American-born English actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Alfie, and Factory Girl. 1978 - John Legend - is an American recording artist, musician and actor. He is the recipient of six Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. 1973 – Alex Dimitriades - Australian actor - In 1998, Dimitriades played the protagonist Ari in the Ana Kokkinos film Head On. Dimitriades' performance in the role was critically acclaimed and earned him an AFI Award nomination. In 2001, he appeared in the Australian comedies Let's Get Skase and La Spagnola. He has had roles in the Hollywood films Ghost Ship and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. 1954 - Denzel Washington - an American actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. He has garnered much critical acclaim for his work in film since the 1990s, including for his portrayals of real-life figures, such as Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Rubin Carter, Melvin B. Tolson, Frank Lucas and Herman Boone. Washington has been awarded three Golden Globe awards and two Academy Awards for his work. He is notable as the second African American man (after Sidney Poitier) to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, which he received for his role in the 2001 film Training Day. 1953 - Richard Clayderman - a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint, instrumental renditions of popular music, rearrangements of movie soundtracks, ethnic music, and easy-listening arrangements of most popular works of classical music. He has sold over 70 million albums world-wide, biggest UK hit is the 1982 UK No.2 album 'Richard Clayderman.' 1934 - Dame Maggie Smith - an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 57 years. Considered to be one of world's greatest living actresses, she has won numerous awards for acting, including five BAFTA Awards, two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Emmy Award and a Tony Award. 1931 - Martin Milner - actor: Surfside 6, Route 66, Adam 12, Columbo, The Halls of Montezuma, Mr. Roberts, Valley of the Dolls 1921 - Johnny Otis - an American blues and rhythm and blues pianist, vibraphonist, drummer, singer, bandleader, and impresario. Otis was one of the most prominent white figures in the history of rhythm and blues 1908 - Lew Ayres - actor: Ayres played opposite Greta Garbo in 1929's The Kiss, but it was his starring role in 1930's All Quiet on the Western Front which made him a star. Ayres was Janet Gaynor's leading man in Servants' Entrance (1934), which featured a combination of live action and Walt Disney animation in a musical dream sequence. He played the title role in Young Dr. Kildare in 1938 and became a matinee idol, starring in several Kildare films. During this time, Ayres also co-starred with Joan Crawford and James Stewart in The Ice Follies of 1939.All Quiet on the Western Front, Johnny Belinda, Advice and Consent, Of Mice and Men, Battle for the Planet of the Apes OTHER EVENTS - 2005 – Mary J. Blige holds onto her Queen of Hip-Hop Soul crown as The Breakthrough debuts at the top of the American album chart. Actor-turned-singer Jamie Foxx’s Unpredictable enters at No. 2. 2004 – U2’s Bono is the guest editor for the day on BBC Radio 4’s flagship news program, Today. Among the features, British chancellor Gordon Brown addresses the problem of world poverty and a report traces Riverdance’s Islamic roots. 2000 - Waylon Jennings holds a three-day-long estate sale at his home in Dixon, IL, offering up, amongst other artifacts, a motorbike that once belonged to Buddy Holly. 1998 - “For rewriting the book on crime and punishment, for putting prices on values we didn’t want to rank, for fighting past all reason a battle whose casualties will be counted for years to come, Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr are TIME’s 1998 Men of the Year.” 1996 - The Spice Girls scored their third UK No.1 single with '2 Become 1'. The ballad from their debut album became their first Christmas No.1. 1991 - Irene the Icon of Greek Orthodox church returns after being stolen 1989 - A magnitude 5.5 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people. Estimated damage: US$1.1 billion. 1983 - 72nd Davis Cup: Australia beats Sweden in Melbourne (3-2) 1980 - St Winifred's School Choir were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'There's No One Quite Like Grandma.' 1978: Rolling Stone's annual Readers and Critics Poll both agree that the Rolling Stones album Some Girls is Album Of The Year. 1975 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Saturday Night,” Bay City Rollers. 1973 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn published first volume of his Gulag Archipelago in Paris. It was an expose of the Soviet prison and labor camps. The publication led to his expulsion from the Soviet Union in February of 1974. 1972 - First U.S. stereo TV broadcast: WNEW-TV and WNET of New York air a 30-minute stereo program. 1968 - The (double) album named The Beatles (called by most, The White Album) was #1 in the U.S. It was the Beatles’ first album on their own Apple label and was #1 for nine weeks. 1968: The first major rock concert on the US East Coast, the Miami Pop Festival, takes place, a three-day affair featuring Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, The Turtles, Joni Mitchell, Procol Harum, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly, The McCoys, Fleetwood Mac, The Box Tops, Three Dog Night, Pacific Gas and Electric, and The Grateful Dead. 1964 - Principal filming of the movie classic, Doctor Zhivago, began on location near Madrid, Spain. When completed, the film was 197 minutes long and so spectacular that it received ten Oscar nominations, winning five of the Academy Awards, including Best Original Score. 1963: The magazine The New Yorker publishes an interview with Beatles manager Brian Epstein in their "Talk Of The Town" column about the band's upcoming Ed Sullivan gig -- the first major press the group has received in the US. 1963: Teen idol Bobby Vee marries his first and only wife, Karen Bergen, in Orchard Lane, MI. 1961 - Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana," premieres in New York City 1961 - Danny Williams was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Moon River', the Oscar-winning song was from the film Breakfast At Tiffany's. The Tokens were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight.' 1957 - The two-millionth Volkswagen is produced. 1955 - Drifters singer Clyde McPhatter's first solo hit, "Seven Days," enters the R&B chart. It will peak at #3 and go on to #44 on the pop chart next year." 1955 - 44th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (5-0) 1953 - Production of 1954 model Corvettes begins, in St. Louis. 1945 - The U.S. Congress officially recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance." 1944 - The musical, On the Town, opened in New York City for a run of 462 performances. It was Leonard Bernstein’s first big Broadway success. The show’s hit song, New York, New York, continues to be successful. 1897 - "Cyrano de Bergerac," the play by Edmond Rostand, premiered in Paris, France. 1877 - John Stevens, of Neenah, WI, applied for a patent for his flour-rolling mill which boosted production by 70%. 1869 - Chewing gum: William Finley Semple is issued the first U.S. patent for chewing gum. 1836 – South Australia and Adelaide are founded. 1612 - Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star.

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