Through The Rear Window

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

TODAY IS ...

27 JANUARY

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

UN — International Holocaust Remembrance Day
United Kingdom — Holocaust Memorial Day.
Denmark — Auschwitzdag (Auschwitz Day; commemoration day for the victims of the Holocaust and other genocide).

Serbia — St. Sava Day.

Monaco, day of Saint Devota, patron saint

BIRTHDAYS -

1987 - Lily Monica Donaldson - a British model.

1987 - Katy Rose - an American singer, songwriter, producer, musician and actress. Her music styles vary from indie rock, electro pop, grunge, pop, lounge music and even techno. Starting at just sixteen, Katy Rose began work on her debut album, Because I Can for V2 Records. On January 27th, 2004, Because I Can was released along with her first single Overdrive. Her album was released to mixed critical reception.

1984 - Davetta Sherwood - an American actress and musician. Whose first breakthrough acting role was on the Emmy award-winning soap opera The Young and the Restless, that earned her a nomination for the NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series". In 2008.

1981 - Alicia Molik - a professional female tennis player from Australia. She reached a career high singles rank of number 8 and also won a bronze medal for Australia at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

1979 - Rosamund Pike - an English actress best known for her portrayals of Bond villainess Miranda Frost in Die Another Day and Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

1972 - Josh Randall - an American television actor best known for his role as Dr. Mike Burton in the NBC sitcom Ed and the recurring guest role of Jake in Scrubs in 2005.

1965 - Alan Cumming, OBE - a Scottish stage, television and film actor whose roles have included Boris Grishenko in GoldenEye, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United, and Fegan Floop in the Spy Kids trilogy.

1964 - Bridget Fonda - actress: Point of No Return, The Godfather, Part 3, Aria, 21 Jump Street; daughter of actor, Peter Fonda and actress, Susan Brewer, granddaughter of actor, Henry Fonda, niece of actress, Jane Fonda

1948 - Mikhail Baryshnikov - a Soviet-born Russian American dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 20th century. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in western dance.

1936 - Troy Donahue - an American actor and teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s who starred in Monster on the Campus, Live Fast, Die Young, and The Tarnished Angels, all in 1958, and opposite fellow teen idol Sandra Dee in A Summer Place in 1959. Later played several successive leading roles in films such as Rome Adventure and A Distant Trumpet. The two co-starred Suzanne Pleshette. Donahue starred with Van Williams from 1960 to 1962 in the ABC television series Surfside 6, set in Miami, Florida. After Surfside 6, Donahue joined the cast of Hawaiian Eye for its last season, 1962-1963, in the role of hotel director Philip Barton

1921 - Donna Reed - an American film and television actress who received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Lorene, a prostitute, in From Here to Eternity, and received the 1963 Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star - Female for her performance as Donna Stone, an American middle class wife and mother, in The Donna Reed Show. In 1984, she replaced Barbara Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie in the television melodrama, Dallas.

OTHER EVENTS –

2009 - Mary Poppins (originally released in theaters in 1964) is released on DVD as a 45th anniversary edition.

2007 - Approximately 100,000 protesters converge on the Mall in Washington, D.C. for the January 27, 2007 anti-war protest sponsored by United for Peace and Justice.

2006 - Charlotte’s Web with voicings form Julia Roberts, Oprah Winfrey, John Cleese, Kathy Bates and Robert Redford opens in Australia. Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.

2005 – Starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Regina King and Harry Lennix, Ray commences screening in Australia. The life and career of the legendary popular music pianist, Ray Charles.

2004 - The Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast plays performance number 4,000

2003 – Former S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens signed a £1m solo deal with Polydor records in the UK.

2002 - Spanish-American Enrique Iglesias scored his first UK No.1 single with 'Hero'. His father, Julio Iglesias, had a UK No.1 hit in 1981.

2002 - Alan Jackson started a three week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Drive.’

2000 – Beijing songstress Faye Wong and Hong Kong Canto-pop star Andy Lau share the Century Award for best artist at the Channel V Chinese Music Awards, held at the mainland capital’s International Convention Centre.

1997- First day shooting on the Cohen Bros. film The Big Lebowski

1997 - It was revealed that French national museums were holding nearly 2,000 works of art stolen from Jews by the Nazis during World War II.

1997 – At the American Music Awards, starchy crooner Pat Boone reveals his new “metal” direction, wearing leathers and a studded collar. His weekly Gospel America TV show is cancelled. Says Boone, “I’m not going to apologize; I’ve been one of the biggest squares of all time. Now I’m being judged like I used to judge these rockers, but God loves rockers too!”

1997 - 24th American Music Award: Toni Braxton and Alanis Morissette win

1996 - Catherine Roskam becomes the first New York female Episcopal bishop

1996 - Babylon Zoo started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Spaceman', the fastest selling single by a debut artist in the UK, (420,000 copies in 6 days). The song was used for a Levi Jeans TV commercial. The single also went to Number 1 in twenty-three other countries.

1996 - 70th Australian Womens Tennis: Monica Seles beats Anke Huber (64 61)

1995 - 69th Australian Womens Tennis: Mary Pierce beats A S Vicario (63 62)

1995 - 5,000 mourners gather at the site of the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its liberation.

1992 - 19th American Music Award C & C Music Factory, Michael Bolton win

1991 - 79th Australian Mens Tennis: Boris Becker beats I Lendl (16 64 64 64)

1990 - Kylie Minogue had her third UK No.1 single with 'Tears On My Pillow', the song was originally a US hit for Little Anthony and The Imperials in 1958.

1990 - 64th Australian Women's Tennis Steffi Graf beats MJ Fernandez (63 64)

1988 - Pink Floyd played the fist of 9 nights at The Entertainment Center, Sydney, Australia.

1986 - 13th American Music Award: Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis and C Gayle

1985 - The Coca-Cola Company, of Atlanta, GA, announced a plan to sell its soft drinks in the Soviet Union.

1984 – The Eurythmics begin a grueling 175-date world tour in Australia.

1984 - Pop singer Michael Jackson is hospitalized when his hair catches fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in Los Angeles.

1984 - John & Yoko release "Milk & Honey" album

1984 - Carl Lewis beat his own two-year-old record by 9-1/4 inches when he set a new indoor world record with a long-jump mark of 28 feet, 10-1/4 inches.

1983 - Pilot shaft of World's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honsh and Hokkaid breaks through.

1983 – Beach Girls starring Debra Blee, Val Kline and Jeana Tomasina starts screening in Australia. School is out, and three girls head to the beach for vacation. Two of the girls are world-wise party-goers who attempt to loosen up their naive, virginal friend, whose uncle has allowed the girls to stay at his beach house

1982 - West Indies beat Australia 3-1 to win World Series Cricket Cup

1982 - "Joseph & the Amazing Dreamcoat" opens at Royale New York for 747 performances

1981 - U.S. President Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House.

1980 – Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper.

1979 - Number one hit on UK music charts - Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick their only UK chart topper.

1979 - 36th Golden Globes Midnight Express, Jon Voight & Jane Fonda

1977 - The Vatican reiterates that the Roman Catholic Church does not allow women to enter the priesthood.

1977 - The first broadcast of "Roots" mini-series on ABC TV

1976 - "Laverne & Shirley" spin-off from "Happy Days" premieres on ABC TV

1974 – The Brisbane River floods causing the largest flood to affect Brisbane City in the 20th Century

1974 - "Lorelei" opens at Palace Theater New York for 320 performances

1973- Henry Kissinger and Li Duc To sign the Paris Peace Accords ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

1973 - 'Superstition' gave Stevie Wonder had his second No.1 single in the US, 10 years after his first No.1.

1973 - Roxy Music won 'the most promising new name', section in the NME reader's poll.

1973 - Number one hit on UK music charts - Sweet - Blockbuster

1972 - The New Seekers' "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" is certified gold

1971 - David Bowie arrived in the US for the first time; he couldn't play live because of work permit restrictions, but attracted publicity when he wore a dress at a promotion event.

1968 - The Bee Gees make their US debut at the Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. They earn top dollar -- $50,000 -- for their appearance but head straight back to their Australian home as soon as the concert is over.

1968 - Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is released, 6 weeks after he is killed in a plane crash.

1967- Three Apollo I astronauts Gus Grissom (veteran of the third Gemini flight), Ed Young and Roger Chafee died in a flash fire in their capsule. In those days the hatchways were literally screwed on from the outside and there was no way to open it from the inside. The fire occurred during a routine rehearsal probably from static electricity igniting an atmosphere of pure oxygen and feeding on velcro. The three men burned to death while engineers frantically struggled with the hatch. After this episode the future Apollo capsules were fitted with a hatch with exploding bolts.

1967 - Beatles sign a 9 year worldwide contract with EMI records

1967 - A treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons is signed by representatives of more than 60 countries.

1966 - The Overlanders were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song 'Michelle'. The group's only UK hit.

1964 - The Rolling Stones appear on the BBC's Juke Box Jury show as panelists. Their impolite behavior -- including referring to Elvis' latest single as "dated" -- causes a furor in the British press.

1963 - Production begins on the Elvis Presley movie "Fun In Acapulco"

1962 - Elvis Presley receives his 29th gold record for "Can't Help falling in Love," just weeks after getting one for the soundtrack to his seventh movie, "Blue Hawaii."

1962 - "Peppermint Twist - Part I" by Joey Dee & the Starliters topped the US charts and stayed there for 3 weeks. The single reached No.33 on the UK chart.

1961 - Leontyne Price made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. She sang in the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore. Price was only the seventh black singer to make a debut at the Met. Marian Anderson was the first in 1955.

1961 - Frank Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall in New York City for Martin Luther King.

1961 - "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV

1960 - Michael Holliday was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of 'Starry Eyed' written by unknown American songwriter Gary Stites.

1958 - Following a harrowing near-fatal plane ride, Little Richard gives up rock and roll and enrolls in Oakwood College in Huntsville, AL, a school for African-Americans run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, so he can get a degree in divinity.

1956 - Elvis Presley's single, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was released by RCA Records, who had just purchased Presley's contract from Sun Records for $35,000. The song sold 300,000 copies in its first week and would eventually sell over a million, becoming Elvis' first Gold record.

1956 - Bill Haley, Platters, Lavern Baker, Shirley and Lee, Drifters, Joe Turner, Bo Diddley, Roy Hamilton and others begin the biggest US package tour to date, promoted by Irvin Field.

1955 - "Plain & Fancy" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater Mew York for 476 performances

1951 - The US Air Force tests a one-kiloton atomic bomb at Frenchman Flats in the Nevada desert.

1950 - 2nd Emmy Awards Ed Wynn Show & Texaco Star Theater win

1949 – Paleface starring Jane Russell and Bob Hope starts screening in Australia. Calamity Jane is despatched to find out who's smuggling rifles to the Indians, and winds up married to a hapless correspondence school dentist as part of her cover.

1948- The Wireway Company announced the first tape recorder for sale using the new magnetic tape. It cost $150.

1945 - Russian troops liberate the Nazi concentration camps Birkenau and Auschwitz.

1944- Walt Disney donated money and may have attended a tribute to leftist cartoonist Art Young in New York. Art Young was a close friend of John Reed and Louise Bryant, founders of the American Communist Party. The F.B.I. noted the event was sponsored by the radical socialist newspaper The New Masses and other attendees included progressives like Paul Robeson, Langston Hughes, Ernest Hemingway and Carl Sandburg.

1939 - First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.

1927- Charlie Chaplin’s short comedy The Circus premiered.

1918- Warner Bros. Pictures incorporated. The Brothers Warner- Sam Albert, Harry and Jack were the sons of Jewish immigrants who had moved from Poland in 1882 and set up a bicycle repair shop in Ohio. Their first movie was Five Years in Germany. Throughout the 1920’s their little studio survived making pictures with dog star Rin Tin Tin. They called him the Mortgage Lifter, because the profits from his pictures paid their bills. Later they bought Vitagraph and gambled with the new Sound technology. When they made the Jazz Singer with Jolson, Warner Bros became a major studio.