Through The Rear Window: TODAY IS ... 22 JANUARY

Friday, January 22, 2010

TODAY IS ... 22 JANUARY

TODAY IS ...

22 JANUARY

BIRTHDAYS -

1980 - Christopher Masterson - an American actor, best known for his role as eldest brother Francis in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.

1975 - Balthazar Getty - an American film actor who has appeared in films such as Young Guns II, Natural Born Killers, Judge Dredd, White Squall, Lost Highway, Big City Blues, The Center of the World, Deuces Wild, Ladder 49, Feast and the television series Traffic.

1969 - Olivia d'Abo - a British actress and singer-songwriter, best known for playing the recurring villain Nicole Wallace in Law & Order: Criminal Intent

1965 - Diane Lane - an American film actress born and raised in New York City. Lane made her screen debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film A Little Romance, starring opposite Laurence Olivier. She has appeared in several notable films, including Unfaithful in 2002, which earned her Academy Award, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Lane is also well known for her 2003 film Under the Tuscan Sun.

1959 - Linda Blair - an American actress most famous for her role as the possessed child, Regan, in the 1973 film The Exorcist, and its sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic.

1954 - Chris Lemmon - actor: Thunder in Paradise series, Corporate Affairs, Weekend Warriors, Swing Shift, The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood; son of actor Jack Lemmon

1940 - John Hurt, CBE - an English actor, known for his leading roles in The Elephant Man and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Hurt initially came to prominence for his role as Richard Rich in the 1966 film A Man for All Seasons, and has since appeared in such popular motion pictures as: Alien, Midnight Express, Rob Roy, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, V for Vendetta, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the Hellboy film series.

1935 - Seymour Cassel - actor: Bad Love, Indecent Proposal, Honeymoon in Vegas, Dick Tracy, Sweet Bird of Youth, Eye of the Tiger, Double Exposure, Valentino, Faces

1934 - Bill Bixby actor: My Favorite Martian, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, The Incredible Hulk, Fantasy Island, Rich Man Poor Man

1932 - Piper Laurie - actress: The Road to Galveston, Twin Peaks, Rising Son, Children of a Lesser God, The Thorn Birds, Days of Wine and Roses, Carrie, The Hustler, Francis Goes to the Races

1931 - Sam Cooke - singer: You Send Me, Chain Gang, Wonderful World, A Change is Gonna Come

OTHER EVENTS –

2009 – Clint Eastwood directed and starred in Gran Torino which stared screening in Australia. Disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski sets out to reform his neighbor, a young Hmong teenager, who tried to steal Kowalski's prized possession: his 1972 Gran Torino.

2008 - Actor Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead of an accidental prescription drug overdose in New York City.

2004 – Along Came Polly started screening in Australia. Starring Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Along came Polly is the story of a buttoned up newlywed who finds his too organized life falling into chaos when he falls in love with an old classmate.

2003 - Last successful contact with the spacecraft Pioneer 10, one of the most distant man-made objects.

2003 - It was reported that scientists in China had found fossilized remains of a dinosaur with four feathered wings.

2001 - The Strokes released their first record 'The Modern Age EP' on Rough Trade records in the UK.

2001 - Chubby Checker guest stars on Fox's Ally McBeal.

2000 - Savage Garden went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Knew I Loved You'.

1998 - Matt Damon, Danny DeVito and Claire Danes star in The Rainmaker which commences screening in Australia. An idealistic young lawyer and his cynical partner take on a powerful law firm representing a corrupt insurance company.

1998 – Bandwagon starring Kevin Corrigan, Steve Parlavecchio and Lee Holmes commences screening in Australia. Tony gets fired from his job. He's not really sad about this because he prefers writing songs and playing the guitar...

1997 - The Senate confirms President Clinton's nomination of Madeleine Albright, making her the first female Secretary of State in U.S. history.

1996 - The Galileo probe plunges into Jupiter's atmosphere and finds it windier and drier than expected, with less helium and less lightning.

1994 - D:Ream had their first UK No.1 single with 'Things Can Only Get Better', it stayed at No.1 for four weeks. In 1997 the track was adopted by the UK Labour Party as their theme for the 1997 UK General Election.

1994 - Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'All For Love', a No.2 hit in the UK. Taken from the film 'The Three Musketeers'.

1990 - Gorbachev explains crackdown in Azerbaijan - President Mikhail Gorbachev has made a statement on Soviet television explaining the Soviet crackdown on civil unrest in the republic of Azerbaijan.

1988 - In Northern Territory, Australia a 6.9 earthquake occurred with damage in the Tennant Creek area. Felt over two-thirds of Australia.

1987 - Phil Donahue became the first talk show host to tape a show from inside the Soviet Union. Donahue appeared in Leningrad, Kiev and Moscow. The shows were seen by Russian TV audiences later in the year.

1987 - Glen Tremml, 27, pedalled the ultralight aircraft Eagle over Edwards Air Force Base, California., for a human-powered flight record of 37.2 miles.

1984 - The Apple Macintosh, the first consumer computer to popularize the computer mouse and the graphical user interface, is introduced during Super Bowl XVIII with its famous "1984" television commercial.

1983 - The Steven Spielberg film, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, became the top movie moneymaker this day. In less than a year, E.T., the modern day, fairy tale, brought in $194 million in video rentals; replacing the previously #1 rented film, Star Wars. Something for E.T. to phone home about.

1983 - The new 24-hour music video network MTV started broadcasting to the West Coast of America after being picked up by Group W Cable, Los Angeles.

1983 - Bjorn Borg retires from tennis after winning five consecutive Wimbledon championships.

1980 - This week's US Top 5 singles: No.5, Rupert Holmes, 'Escape, (The Pina Colada Song)', No.4, Smokey Robinson, 'Crusin', No.3, Kenny Rogers, 'Coward Of The County', No.2, Captain and Tennille, 'Do That To Me One More Time', and No.1, Michael Jackson, 'Rock With You.'

1980 - Soviet dissident Sakharov banished One of the Soviet Union's most outspoken critics, nuclear physicist Dr Andrei Sakharov, has been ordered into internal exile.

1978 – Encounters of the Third Kind starring Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut and Teri Garr opens in Australia. After an encounter with UFOs, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

1977 - Wings went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Wings Over America', Paul McCartney's sixth US No.1 after The Beatles.

1977 - Stevie Wonder went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Wish', his 5th US No.1, it made No.5 in the UK.

1976 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Theme from `Mahogany’ (Do You Know Where You’re Going to),” Diana Ross. A screening committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences initially rules the song is not good enough to be considered for an Oscar. The decision is rescinded and it gets a nomination.

1974 - Carly Simon's album Hotcakes is certified gold

1973 - The Supreme Court announces the famous Roe versus Wade decision, legalizing abortion (in the first six months of pregnancy) in the U.S.

1973 - George Foreman breaks Joe Frazier's professional career undefeated heavyweight world boxing champion status.

1972 - Don McLean's album 'American Pie' started a seven week run at No.1 in the US album chart.

1971 - The Joe Cocker film Mad Dogs and Englishmen, featuring performances by Cocker, Leon Russell, Rita Coolidge, and others, premieres in London.

1970 - The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its first regularly scheduled commercial flight on a route from New York to London.

1969 - The Beatles' George Harrison, meeting Billy Preston at the Apple offices, persuades him to join the Get Back sessions (later released as Let It Be).

1968 - T.V. comedy review show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In premiered. It launched the careers of Lilly Tomlin, Goldie Hawn and Eileen Brennan.

1968 - During the bands first Australian tour The Who played the first of two nights at Sydney Stadium with The Small Faces and Paul Jones.

1968 - Apple Corps (home of the boutique and the label) opens its offices at 5 Wigmore Street, Marylebone, London.

1966 - The Beach Boys went into the studio to record 'Wouldn't It Be Nice', which would be the opening track on their forthcoming album 'Pet Sounds.'

1966 - Nancy Sinatra enters the Hot 100 for the second time with what will be her biggest hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" In 14 weeks on the charts, the song will go to Number One for one week next month.

1965 - The Rolling Stones began a 16-date tour of Australia and New Zealand at the Manufactures' Auditorium in Sydney with Roy Orbison, The Newbeats and Ray Columbus and the Invaders

1963 - The Shadows were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Dance On', the group's fourth UK No.1.

1963 – Gerry & the Pacemakers hold their first recording session, producing “Away from You” and “Pretend”

1963 - Elvis Presley records "Bossa Nova Baby"

1962 - Gene Chandler makes his television debut on ABC's American Bandstand.

1961 - 1960’s Olympic gold medalist and track star Wilma Rudolph set a world indoor mark in the women’s 60-yard dash. She ran the race in a speedy 6.9 seconds in a meet held in Los Angeles on this day.

1960 - Eddie Cochran's Hallelujah I Love Her So hits UK chart

1960 - Sam Cooke leaves the tiny Keen label to sign with RCA Records.

1959 - Alone with an acoustic guitar and tape recorder in his New York City apartment Buddy Holly made his last recordings, including ‘Peggy Sue Got Married’, ‘Crying, Waiting, Hoping’, ‘That's What They Say’, ‘What To Do’, ‘Learning The Game’ and ‘That Makes It Tough’. The recordings would be overdubbed posthumously and were later released by Coral Records.

1959 - Jane Morgan was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Day The Rains Came'.

1956 - Raymond Burr starred as Captain Lee Quince in the Fort Laramie debut on CBS radio. The program was said to be in “the Gunsmoke tradition.”

1953 - Arthur Miller's The Crucible premiered on Broadway

1952 - The first Jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, enters service for BOAC.

1951 - The Canadian destroyer HMCS Huron is put under United Nations command for service off Korea

1946 - The Central Intelligence Group, which later became the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was established by U.S. President Harry S Truman’s directive issued this day.

1938 - Thornton Wilder's play, Our Town, debuts in Princeton, New Jersey.

1931 - Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as Australia's first Australian-born governor-general.

1931 - Clyde McCoy and his orchestra recorded Sugar Blues on this day. The tune became McCoy’s theme song, thanks to its popularity on Columbia Records, and later on Decca, selling over a million copies. (McCoy was said to be related to the feudin’ and a-fightin’ McCoys of Hatfield and McCoy fame.)