TODAY IS ... 21 JANUARY

TODAY IS ...

21 JANUARY

BIRTHDAYS -

1990 - Jonathan Smith - an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role in the film Cheaper by the Dozen and its 2005 sequel.

1981 - Izabella Miko - a Polish actress and model whose American film debut was in Coyote Ugly in 2000. She appeared in three episodes of HBO's Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning Deadwood, and in The Killers' music video for Mr. Brightside. In 2010, Miko will appear in the big-budget remake Clash of the Titans as Athena .

1976 - Emma Bunton - an English pop singer, best known for being a member of the successful 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice.

1974 - Rove McManus - an Australian media personality. He was the host of the variety show Rove and owner of the production company Roving Enterprises. He is a three time Gold Logie Award winner.

1968 - Charlotte Ross - an American actress who is most widely known as a cast member of NYPD Blue from 2001 to 2004.

1956 - Robby Benson - actor: Search for Tomorrow, Ode to Billy Joe, National Lampoon Goes to the Movies, The Chosen

1956 - Geena Davis - Academy Award-winning supporting actress: The Accidental Tourist [1988]; Beetlejuice, Fletch, The Fly, Tootsie, Thelma and Louise, Buffalo Bill, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Commander in Chief

1950 - Billy Ocean - Grammy Award-winning R&B Male Vocal: Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) [1984]; Love Really Hurts Without You, There’ll Be Sad Songs

1947 - Jill Eikenberry - actress: L.A. Law, Arthur, The Manhattan Project

1942 - Mac Davis - singer: Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me; Friend, Lover, Woman, Wife; actor: North Dallas Forty; host: The Mac Davis Show; songwriter: In the Ghetto, Memories; ACM Entertainer of the Year [1975]

1941 - Richie Havens - singer: Here Comes the Sun

1941 - Plácido Domingo - singer: opera tenor: Perhaps Love

1940 - Jack Nicklaus - golf champion: holds the record for winning the most majors, 18 professional titles: 4 US Opens, 3 British Opens, 5 PGA and 6 Masters Championships; one of only 2 players to win back-to-back Masters

1934 - Audrey Dalton – actress: Casanova’s Big Night, The Prodigal, Titanic

1926 - Steve Reeves - Mr. Universe; actor: Hercules, Hercules Unchained, Goliath and the Barbarians, The Last Days of Pompeii

1922 - Telly Savalas - Emmy Award-winning actor: Kojak [1973-’74]; The Dirty Dozen, Birdman of Alcatraz, Battle of the Bulge, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Kelly’s Heroes

1922 - Paul Scofield - Academy award-winning actor: A Man for All Seasons [1966]; Scorpio, Anna Karenina, King Lear, Henry V, Hamlet

OTHER EVENTS –

2007 – Mika scored his debut UK number one hit single with ‘Grace Kelly’, which went on to be became the third biggest-selling single in the UK in 2007. Amy Winehouse kept her place at the top of the UK album chart with ‘Back to Black.’

2007 - Awashima Marine Park in Japan catches a video tape of the rare frilled shark

2006 – At France’s NRJ Music Awards, Madonna wins Best International Female, British singer Robbie Williams wins Best International Male, and Shakira wins best international song for “La Tortura.”

2004 - NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.

2004 - China ushered in the year of the monkey, a positive sign in Chinese astrology for business and growth.

2003 - The U.S. Census Bureau says Hispanics have moved past African-Americans as the largest minority group in the United States.

2002 - In London, a 17th century book by Capt. John Smith, founder of the English settlement at Jamestown, was sold at auction for $48,800. "The General History of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles" was published in 1632.

2002 – Australian Director Scott Hicks directed Hearts in Atlantis starring Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin and Hope Davis which started screening in Australia. A widowed mother and her son change when a mysterious stranger enters their lives.

2001 – Bob Dylan picks up the best original song _ motion picture honor at the 58th annual Golden Globes ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Dylan beats out tow-time nominee Bjork.

1999 – Psycho starring Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche and Julianne Moore starts screening in Australia. A young female embezzler arrives at the Bates Motel which has terrible secrets of its own.

1998 - Pope John Paul II arrived in Havana for his first-ever visit to Cuba.

1997 - In Southern Xinjiang, China, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurs. At least 12 people killed, 40 injured, and 2,500 families homeless; about 31,000 homes destroyed or damaged.

1996 - 53th Golden Globes Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, John Travolta

1995 - The 52nd Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1994, are presented at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California. The Lion King is awarded for Best Picture - Comedy/Musical. The animated feature also wins for Best Original Score (by Hans Zimmer) and for Best Original Song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (written by Elton John & Time Rice).

1993 - It was announced that Hillary Clinton would work out of a White House office near the Oval Office, an unprecedented move in first lady history.

1993 – Body of Evidence starred Madonna, Michael Forest and Joe Mantegna and commenced screening in Australia. A woman is accused of killing a man to inherit his millions by having sex with him.

1989 – Phil Collins scored his seventh US No.1 single with ‘Two Hearts’.

1990 - Tennis bad boy John McEnroe was disqualified and expelled for throwing a temper tantrum while leading in his Australian Open match against Mike Pernfors. McEnroe holds the distinction of being the first player to be expelled from the Australian Open.

1989 - Lou Reed releases New York LP in USA.

1989 – Bobby Brown went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Don’t Be Cruel’.

1988 – Flowers in the Attic which starred Louise Fletcher, Victoria Tennant and Kristy Swanson commenced screening in Australia. They have come to a house where secrets are kept....where the future is haunted by the past.....where the innocent live in the shadow of sin.....where a dark legacy awaits to destroy all who defy it.

1987 - Thirty years after its release, Jackie Wilson’s single, Reet Petite (written by Motown founder Berry Gordy), ended a month at the top of England’s music charts.

1987 - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts the late Jackie Wilson, the Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, B.B. King, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters, Hank Williams, Leonard Chess, Ahmet Ertegun, Louis Jordan, the songwriting team of Leiber and Stoller, Clyde McPhatter, producer Jerry Wexler and Big Joe Turner.

1985 - Actor, Patrick Duffy, announced plans to leave the CBS show Dallas at the end of the TV season. He asked that the character of Bobby Ewing not be replaced by another actor. Good thing. Bobby showed up in the new season, miraculously rising from the dead; taking a shower; after being in a tremendous car crash the previous season. And Duffy returned to continue in the role of Bobby Ewing through the final episode in 1991.

1984 – Yes started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Owner Of A Lonely Heart ‘a No.28 hit in the UK.

1984 - John Lennon hits USA Hot 100 at No. 36 with Nobody Told Me.

1982 – Mel Brooks directed and starred in History of the World : Part 1 which commenced screening in Australia. From the dawn of man to the distant future, mankind's evolution (or lack thereof) is traced. Often ridiculous but never serious

1982 - B.B. King donates his entire record collection to the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture. The 20,000-record collection includes 7,000 discs King aired as a disc jockey at Memphis' WDIA in the Fifties.

1978 – The soundtrack album ‘Saturday Night Fever’ started a 24 week run at No.1 on the US album charts, it went on to sell over 30 million copies world wide, making it the best selling soundtrack album of all time.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.

1976 - The French Concorde SST aircraft, with its droopy nose and sound-barrier smashing speed, began regular commercial service for Air France and British Airways.

1973 - Canadian actor Leslie Nielson appears in the Ringbanger episode of the TV sitcom M*A*S*H

1971 - "Alias Smith & Jones" premieres on ABC TV

1970 - The first Boeing 747, the largest jet airliner in the world, landed at London Heathrow Airport at the end of its maiden transatlantic flight.

1970 - ABC-TV presented The Johnny Cash Show in prime time. Previously, the show had been a summer replacement. The regular season series was a big boost for country music. Johnny wore black in the all-color show, however.

1967 - The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" enters the pop charts

1965 – The Rolling Stones arrive in Australia, where they will shortly begin a tour with support act Roy Orbison. A crowd of 2000 people greets them.

1965 - The Byrds record "Mr. Tambourine Man". It was produced by Doris Day's son Terry Melcher.

1964 - Carl Rowan succeeded Edward R. Murrow as head of the United States Information Agency (USIA), which managed the worldwide Voice of America. Murrow had held the office for three years. Rowan came from a news background from NBC, as Murrow did over at CBS.

1963 – Bob Dylan performs his new song “Masters of War” at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village.

1959 - The Kingston Trio (Bob Shane, Nick Reynolds and Dave Guard) received a gold record for Tom Dooley. The single could be considered an early folk-form of rap music, considering its less than wholesome message about a guy named Tom Dooley who was going to be hanged - “Poor boy, you’re bound to, die.” The Kingston Trio recorded many hits, including: Greenback Dollar, M.T.A., Reverend Mr. Black, Tijuana Jail, and the war protest song, Where Have All the Flowers Gone?.

1957 - Filming begins on Elvis Presley's second movie, Loving You.

1957 - Chuck Berry recorded "School Day."

1957 - An unknown singer named Patsy Cline wins on CBS' Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts program with a rendition of the song "Walking After Midnight."

1956 - Bill Haley's album Rock Around the Clock enters the charts

1956 - "Comedy in Music (Victor Borge)" closes at Golden New York City NY after 849 performances

1955 - For the first time since NME founded the original UK sales chart, four versions of one song - Mr. Sandman (Chordettes, Max Bygraves, Dickie Valentine and Four Aces) - dominate chart.

1954 - The gas turbine automobile was introduced in New York City. It packed a lot of punch, with a 370 horsepower, ‘whirlfire’ turbopower jet to power it. Racing gloves and helmet sold separately.

1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.

1952 - Nehru's Congress party wins general election in India

1950 - "Lend an Ear" closes at National Theater NYC after 460 performances

1947 - "Sweethearts" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 288 performances

1942 - Nostalgia buffs will want to grab the greatest hits CD of Count Basie (on Verve) and crank up One O’Clock Jump. Just one of the many signature tunes by Bill Basie; the tune was originally recorded on Okeh Records this day.

1938 - Animation work begins on The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

1933 - Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon The Mad Doctor is released. A spoof of the horror films made by Universal, it will be considered too frightening by the British censors!

1932 - Disney completes the Mickey Mouse film The Duck Hunt. Pluto also appears.

1930 - Photos of the planet Pluto are taken at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, although the planet wasn't identified until a month later.

1927 - The first opera to be broadcast over a national radio network was presented in Chicago, IL. Listeners heard selections from Faust.

1924 - Walt Disney ships his 2nd Alice Comedy, Alice Hunting in Africa, to M.J. Winkler Productions - a distributor in New York.

1922 - The first slalom event in skiing was held -- in Murren, Switzerland.

1916- The National Board of Review outlawed nudity in Hollywood movies.

1911 - The first Monte Carlo Rally.

1908 - Smoking by women became illegal. The Sullivan Ordinance was enacted in New York City, but, from pictures we’ve seen, some women continued to smoke even though it was against the law.

1903 - Harry Houdini escapes police station Halvemaansteeg in Amsterdam

1903 - "Wizard of Oz," premieres in New York City NY

1899- The Opel motorcar company opened for business.

1878 - Cleopatra's Needle, an ancient Egyptian obelisk, arrives in England

1789 - The Power of Sympathy, by William Hill Brown, was published (anonymously) in Boston, MA. The book has been called the first American novel.