TODAY IS ... 23 JANUARY

TODAY IS ...

23 JANUARY

BIRTHDAYS -

1974 - Tiffani Thiessen - an American actress best known for her roles as Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell and as Valerie Malone in Beverly Hills, 90210and for her role on Fastlane as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers.

 

1963 - Gail O’Grady - actress: N.Y.P.D. Blue, Monk, Boston Legal, American Dreams

 

1957 - Princess Caroline of Monaco - royalty: daughter of Prince Ranier and Princess Grace of Monaco

1950 - Richard Dean Anderson - actor: Legend, MacGyver, Emerald Point N.A.S., Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, General Hospital, Stargate SG-1

1944 - Rutger Hauer - actor: Lady Hawke, Nighthawks, Blade Runner, Beyond Justice, Forbidden Choices

1943 - Gil Gerard - actor: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Sidekicks, Hooch, Soldier’s Fortune

1933 - Chita Rivera - singer, dancer, actress: Sweet Charity, Pippin, Mayflower Madam

1928 - Jeanne Moreau - actress: The Summer House, La Femme Nikita, The Last Tycoon, The Bride Wore Black, Jules et Jim, Viva Maria, Dangerous Liaisons

1919 - Ernie Kovacs - comedian: The Ernie Kovacs Show; actor: Bell Book and Candle, North to Alaska

1907 - Dan Duryea - actor: The Flight of the Phoenix, Five Golden Dragons;

1899 - Humphrey Bogart - Academy Award-winning actor: The African Queen [1951]; The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny, The Barefoot Contessa, Tokyo Joe, Key Largo, Action in the North Atlantic, High Sierra [over 50 films

OTHER EVENTS –

2008 - At the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York, Virgin Galactic unveils the design of its next generation of space vehicles, named White Knight Two, and SpaceShipTwo, intending to take paying passengers into space on a regular basis next year.

2005 - one of the biggest charity concerts since Live Aid raised £1.25 million ($2 million) for victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia. The concert held at The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff featured Eric Clapton, Manic Street Preachers, Keane, Charlotte Church, Snow Patrol, Embrace, Feeder, Craig David and Liberty X, who appeared before 60,000 fans at the sold-out concert.

2003 – Chicago starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renée Zellweger, Richard Gere and Queen Latifah commences screening in Australia.

2002 - EMI announced that it would pay Mariah Carey $28 million to end their association which was planned to last for several albums estimated at $100 million.

2000 - Santana started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Supernatural', the album spent a total of nine weeks at No.1 during this year.

2000 - Britney Spears went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Born To Make You Happy', the singers second UK No.1 and fourth single from her debut album Baby One More Time.

1997 - The Swiss government, three banks and some businesses agreed to set up a private sector humanitarian fund for Nazi Holocaust victims and their heirs. Reportedly, the neutral Swiss profited from millions of dollars worth of gold deposited some fifty years earlier by victims of the Holocaust. It seems that the gold was also used to make deals with the Nazis.

1997 - The movie "Spice World" was released in the United States.

1997 - Ben Kingsley, Helena Bonham Carter and Nigel Hawthorne star in Twelfth Night which commences screening in Australia. Brother and sister Viola and Sebastian, who are not only very close but look a great deal alike, are in a shipwreck.

1994 -  Take That went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Everything Changes'.

1993 - Genesis went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Live-The Way We Walk Volume II'.

1992 - Kevin Costner, Sally Kirkland and Jay O. Sanders star in Oliver Stone’s JFK which started screening in Australia. A New Orleans DA discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.

1991 - "Seinfeld" debuts on NBC-TV

1990 - David Bowie announced his forthcoming and final world tour, 'Sound And Vision' 1990, during which he will invite each local audience to decide on a 'greatest hits' running order, organised through local radio stations.

1988 - Tiffany started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Tiffany.

1988 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” Michael Jackson. The song is the third consecutive No. 1 hit from Jackson’s album “Bad,” the first time an artist accomplishes that feat.

1988 - Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager, complete first nonstop, round-the-world flight without refueling lands

1988 -  Johnny Hates Jazz went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut LP 'Turn Back The Clock'.

 

1986 – The first annual induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is held in New York. Among those inducted are Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

1983 - One of television’s most intellectual, sophisticated and classy shows came into American homes. It was full of action and drama and starred some guy named Mr. T, wearing a ton of gold jewelry. He played the not so mild-mannered Sgt. Bosco B.A. Baracus, and George Peppard took the lead role as John Hannibal Smith. Yes, The A-Team debuted.

1978 - Sweden becomes the first nation in the world to ban aerosol sprays, believed to be damaging to earth's protective ozone layer.

1977 - Carole King’s landmark album, Tapestry, became the longest-running album to hit the charts, as it reached its 302nd week on the album lists.

1977 - ABC-TV began televising the "Roots" mini-series, based on Alex Haley's book. This television show was at the time the most watched mini-series in history.

1974 - Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells opened the credits of the movie, The Exorcist, based on the book by William Peter Blatty. The song received a gold record this day.

1975 - Barney Miller made his debut on ABC-TV. We saw life in the 12th Precinct as Hal Linden starred as Barney and Abe Vagoda played Fish. The talented cast made the show a hit for eight seasons. There are 170 episodes in the series; making it one of television’s most durable comedies.

1973 - President Nixon announced that U.S. troops would cease fighting in Vietnam at midnight Jan. 27.

1973 - Neil Young interrupts a New York concert to read a message handed to him. "Peace has come," he announces, sending the audience into a joyful ten minute fit of hugging and kissing. Young then went into a powerful version of "Southern Man."

1971 - It was a cold day in Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was reported as the mercury fell to a minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (-62 degrees Celsius).

1971 - Dawn started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Knock Three Times', the group's first No.1, also an UK No.1.

1969 - Working at Apple studios in London, The Beatles (with Billy Preston on keyboards) recorded ten takes of ‘Get Back.’

1969 - Cream releases their last album "Goodbye"

1968 - The USS Pueblo was seized in the Sea of Japan by North Korea, which claimed the ship was on a spy mission. The crew was held for 11 months before being released on Dec. 22, 1968.

1965 – The Rolling Stones begin an Australian tour in Sydney with Roy Orbison, Rolf Harris and Dionne Warwick.

1965 - 'Downtown' made Petula Clark the first UK female singer to have a No.1 on the US singles chart since Vera Lynn in 1952. A No.2 hit in the UK.

1964 - Arthur Miller's "After the Fall," premieres in New York City NY

1962 - Tony Bennett records "I Left My Heart In San Francisco"

1960 - The Paradons record "Diamonds And Pearls"

1960 - The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 m (35,798 feet)in the Pacific Ocean.

1958 - Brunswick Records releases "Maybe Baby" b/w "Tell Me How" by The Crickets.

1957 - On tour in Australia, Bill Haley & the Comets attend the world premiere of "Don't Knock the Rock," in which Haley and the group make cameo appearances.

1956 - Rock 'n' Roll fans in Cleveland aged under 18 were banned from dancing in public (unless accompanied by an adult), after Ohio Police introduced a law dating back to 1931.

1950 - The Israeli Knesset approves a resolution to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

1950 - 3rd edition of Joseph Kane's Famous first Facts published

1948 – Disney releases the Goofy short They're Off, directed by Jack Hannah. Goofy demonstrates the proper way to pick a winning race horse.

1948 - Huston's "Treasure of Sierra Madre" starring Humphrey Bogart opens

1948 - Gen. Eisenhower said he could not accept a presidential nomination from either party; four years later, he ran as a Republican and was elected 34th president of the United States.

1943 - Duke Ellington and the band played for a black-tie crowd at Carnegie Hall in New York City. It was the first of what was to become an annual series of concerts featuring the the Duke.

1942- Tupperware invented by Earl Silas Tupper.

1942 - The Disney cartoon The New Spirit (distributed by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry) is released. Patriot Donald Duck, eager to learn what he can contribute to the war effort, is disappointed when a radio announcer advises him to pay his income tax promptly. The announcer turns him around by explaining the vital need for his money and he guides Donald through the simplified tax form to help him use his "Taxes to beat the Axis." The New Spirit will be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

1941 - Lady in the Dark premiered. It was the first of 162 performances. The show’s star, Danny Kaye, gained popularity as a result of his appearance in the play.

1941 - Artie Shaw and his orchestra recorded Moonglow on Victor Records. In the band were such sidemen as Johnny Guarnieri, Jack Jenney, Billy Butterfield and Ray Conniff (on trombone).

1937 - In an article published in Literary Digest, Edgar Bergen mentioned that he made his dummy pal, Charlie McCarthy, the beneficiary of a $10,000 trust fund to keep him in serviceable condition and repair.

 

1931 - The Silly Symphony film Birds of a Feather is completed.

1930 - Clyde Tombaugh photographs planet Pluto

1928 - Universal Pictures releases the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film Neck 'n' Neck to theaters.

1922 - At Toronto General Hospital, 14-year-old Canadian Leonard Thompson became the first person to receive an insulin injection as treatment for diabetes.

1594 - Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus was performed, the first known performance of a Shakespeare play