TODAY IS ... 24 JANUARY

TODAY IS ...

24 JANUARY

BIRTHDAYS -

1988 - Jade Ewen - an English singer, songwriter, actress and member of the Sugababes after replacing Keisha Buchanan in September 2009. Ewen had represented the UK at the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest performing the Andrew Lloyd-Webber penned "It's My Time".

1986 - Raviv Ullman - an American actor and rapper best known for playing Phil Diffy, the main character in the Disney Channel series Phil of the Future. He currently plays the role of Kip on the Lifetime sitcom Rita Rocks.

1986 - Mischa Barton - a British-American film, television, and stage actress, perhaps best known for her role as Marissa Cooper in the American television series The O.C.

1979 -  Tatyana Ali - an American actress and R&B singer, best known for her role as Ashley Banks in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

1974 - Ed Helms - an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andrew "Andy" Bernard on the U.S. version of the situation comedy The Office and for his role as Stu Price in the 2009 hit comedy The Hangover.

1970 - Matthew Lillard - an American actor best known for his roles as Stevo in SLC Punk, Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series, and as Stu Macher in Scream.

1968 - Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast. In 1984 she became the first U.S. woman to win an individual Olympic gymnastics medal. She won four that year, including the gold for all-around best gymnast.

1966 - Jimeoin - a Northern Irish actor and stand-up comedian who made his name in Australia.

1949 -  John Belushi - a comedian, actor, and musician notable for his work on Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon's Animal House, and The Blues Brothers.

1943 - Sharon Tate - actress: Valley of the Dolls, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Fearless Vampire Killers, The Wrecking Crew

1941 - Aaron Neville - an American soul and R&B singer who made his debut in 1966 with the hit single "Tell It Like It Is", a Number One hit on the Billboard R&B charts. In 1989, he collaborated with Linda Ronstadt on three consecutive duets: "Don't Know Much", "All My Life", and "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", of which the first two reached Number One on the Adult Contemporary charts. Neville has released more than 20 singles, including three Number Ones on the Adult Contemporary format, and a fourth on the R&B format.

1941 -  Neil Diamond - one of America's most enduring and successful singer-songwriters. As a successful pop music performer, Diamond scored a number of hits worldwide in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. As of 2001 Diamond has 115 million records sold worldwide, including 48 million records in the U.S

1939 -  Ray Stevens - an American country music, pop singer-songwriter who has become known for his novelty songs as well as more serious works.

1917 - Ernest Borgnine - an American actor of television and the big screen whose career spanned over five decades. An unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty. On television, he is best known for playing Quinton McHale in the 1962-66 series McHale's Navy 

1909 - Anne Todd - an English actress and producer.who became a popular actress from appearing in such films as Perfect Strangers (1945) (as a nurse) and The Seventh Veil (1945) (as a troubled concert pianist). Best known to American audiences as Gregory Peck's long-suffering wife in Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1947).

OTHER EVENTS –

2008 – Tim Burton directed Sweeney Todd: The demon Barber of Fleet Street commenced screening in Australia. The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical.

2008 – Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks and Amy Adams star in Charlie Wilson’s War which started screening in Australia. A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects.

2008 - French bank Societe Generale announced it had uncovered a $7.14 billion fraud by a single futures trader.

2004 – Madonna receives a lifetime achievement award from Britney Spears during the NRJ French Music Awards in Cannes. Kyo are named best French-language group.

2003 – With three trophies, Avril Lavigne tops the fan-voted MTV Asia Awards at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Lavigne wins for favorite female artist and breakthrough artist, as well as the style award.

2003 – Led Zeppelin’s 1971 rock anthem “Stairway to Heaven” and Peter, Paul and Mary’s classic 1963 recording of “Blowin’ in the Wind” are among 21 new additions to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

2003 - Girls Aloud were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Sound Of The Underground’ and Avril Laviagne had the UK No.1 album with ‘Let Go.’

2002 – Starring Robert Redford, Brad Pitt and Catherine McCormack, Spy Game commences screening in Australia. Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir recalls his training of Tom Bishop while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.

2001 – Newcomer Nelly Furtado grabs five 2001 Juno Awards nominations for her debut album, “Whoa Nelly!”

2000 – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young play the first date of their reunion tour at Michigan’s Palace of Auburn Hills. It’s the first time they’ve toured together in 25 years.

1999 - The International Olympic Committee voted to expel six IOC members after charges that they had accepted money and other compensation from officials from cities bidding to host the Olympics. The cities included Sydney, Australia (2000 summer games) and Salt Lake City, Utah (2002 winter games).

1998 - The Musical Revival "Grease" closed at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York after 1503 performances.

1998 - Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'All Around The World'. The longest running-time for a UK No.1 with a total duration of 9 minutes 38 seconds. It was one of the first songs to be written by Noel Gallagher, with the band rehearsing it as early as 1992.

1987 - Open Your Heart leaps to No. 4 on the USA Hot 100, giving Madonna her tenth straight Top 5 single, more than any other female singer of the rock era. Previously the most successful had been Donna Summer.

1987 - Number one hit on UK music charts - Steve 'Silk' Hurley - Jack Your Body

1987 - Billy Vera and the Beaters started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'At This Moment' not a hit in the UK.

1986- The NASA  space probe Voyager Two passes within 50,679 miles of Uranus.

1985 – Thief of Hearts starring Steven Bauer, Barbara Williams and David Caruso starts screening in Australia. A woman trapped in a boring marriage begins an affair with a handsome man who seems able to read her mind.

 

1984 - Apple Computer Inc unveils its Macintosh personal computer

1984 - ABC network agrees to pay $386 million for US TV rights to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics; a record sum to that date; CTV will handle the Canadian feed.

1981 – Adam And The Ants started a 10-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their debut album ‘Kings Of The Wild Frontier’.

1980 - Pink Floyd advertise their upcoming four-city world tour to promote their album The Wall with a special billboard on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip that was gradually covered up each day with a brick until an entire wall was built over it.

1979 - The Clash released their first single in the US, 'I Fought The Law' (written by Sonny Curtis of Buddy Holly's Crickets).

1978 - A nuclear-powered Soviet satellite disintegrates as it falls into the atmosphere, spreading radioactive debris over parts of northern Canada .

1976 - Bob Dylan started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Desire' his third US No.1.

1975 - "Please Mr. Postman" - the Carpenters topped the US charts and stayed there for a week.

1973 - Donny Osmond, of the famed Osmond Brothers/Family, received a gold record for his album, Too Young.

1972- Japanese soldier Soichi Yokoi was found in the jungles of Guam unaware that World War Two had ended 27 years earlier. He had stolen a radio and listened to the news. But he thought the stories of Americans in Korea and Vietnam were just propaganda. He was returned to Japan a healthy, if somewhat confused hero.

1971 - Panarctic Oils caps a natural gas well on King Christian Island,NWT that had burned out of control for 3 months

1970 - It's announced that John Lennon and Yoko Ono have shaven their heads to commemorate the start of Year One for Peace.

1970 - Dr. Robert Moog unveils the "minimoog" synthesizer, one of the first portable synth keyboards, at a price of $2,000. The American Federation of Musicians at first opposes the instrument, fearing its "realistic" settings will put horn and string sections out of work. The minimoog becomes the first synth to go on tour with rock bands.

1969 – At the Apple Studios in London, the Beatles work on recording “On Our Way Home,” “Teddy Boy,” “Maggie Mae,” “Dig It,” “Dig A Pony,” and “I’ve Got A Feeling.”

1968 - Number one hit on UK music charts - Georgie Fame - The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde

1965 - Gerry and the Pacemakers' first film, Ferry Cross The Mersey, premieres in the UK at the Liverpool Odeon Theater. It is the first rock musical filmed on location in Liverpool, and the era's only film document of the Merseybeat scene. The hit title track was written specifically for the movie.

 

1964 - Martin Kresses final comic strip of Eric the Viking

1964 - 24th Amendment to US Constitution goes into effect & states voting rights could not be denied due to failure to pay taxes

1962 - Today, at the very height of the dance craze, four of Billboard's Top Ten albums belong to Chubby Checker - For Twisters Only, Let's Twist Again, Your Twist Party, and Bobby Rydell / Chubby Checker.

1962 - The Beatles sign their first and only management contract with Brian Epstein at the manager's offices at 12 Whitechapel St. in Liverpool. Epstein is to receive a full one-quarter of the band's earnings, yet to prove his worth, he does not sign the contract until the following October.

1961 - President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.

1961 - Edward Albee's The American Dream premiered in New York - It was the earliest version of what would eventually become Who's Afraid of Viriginia Woolf?

1958 - The Quarry Men performed at the Cavern Club, in Liverpool, (this was the bands only performance at the club). It was three years later when they appeared again at the Cavern but under their new name as The Beatles.

1958 - Elvis Presley was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Jailhouse Rock'. It became the first ever single to enter the chart at No.1 and was Presley's second UK No.1. It went on to sell over 4 million copies in the US.

1957 - Elvis Presley records "Teddy Bear."

1953 – Eddie Fisher was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Outside Is Heaven’.

1949 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “A Little Bird Told Me,” Evelyn Knight & the Stardusters.

1946 - Canada is appointed to the UN Atomic Energy Commission, set up to control and promote the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes

1942- Producer David O. Selznick signed young star Jennifer Jones. He became infatuated and left his wife Irene, the daughter of Louis B. Mayer to marry Jones.

 

1941 - The Disney short Pluto's Playmate, directed by Norm Ferguson,  is released.

1936 - Benny Goodman and his orchestra recorded one of the all-time greats, Stompin’ at the Savoy, on Victor Records. The song became such a standard, that, literally, hundreds of artists have recorded it, including a vocal version by Barry Manilow; believe it or not. The ‘King of Swing’ recorded the song in a session at the Congress Hotel in Chicago.

1935 - The first canned beer, "Krueger Cream Ale," is sold by Kruger Brewing Co in Richmond VA

1930 - Disney signs a contract with King Features for the Mickey Mouse comic strip.

1927 - The Alice Comedy Alice Foils the Pirates, starring Margie Gay, is released.

1927 - Director Alfred Hitchcock releases his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.

1925 - The first Winter Olympics opened at Chamonix in the French Alps.

1924 - The Russian city of St. Petersburg is renamed Leningrad to honor revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin . It was later renamed back to St. Petersburg.

1922 - Eskimo Pie patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa (not an Eskimo)

1918 - The Gregorian calendar introduced in Russia by decree of the Council of People's Commissars effective from February 14(NS)

1908 - Robert Baden-Powell organizes the first Boy Scout troop in England.

1888 - Jacob L. Wortman of Philadelphia receives a US patent for his typewriter ribbon.

1848 - James Marshall discovers a gold nugget at Sutter's Mill in northern California , triggering the San Francisco gold rush of '49.