Tommy Lasorda, the former Dodgers manager, is 80 today.
University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is 73.
Harry’s daughter Shari is 54 and Pat’s daughter Debby is 51. Belafonte and Boone, respectively.
Joan Jett is 49.
I saw him dancin’ there by the record machine
I knew he must a been about seventeen
The beat was goin’ strong
Playin’ my favorite song
An’ I could tell it wouldn’t be long
Till he was with me, yeah me, singin’
I love rock n’ roll
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby
I love rock n’ roll
So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me
Chachi is 46. That’s Scott Baio.
Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, the Brazilian football star, is 31.
And NewMexiKen’s baby brother John is a year older, too. Happy Birthday John!
John Houseman was born on this date in 1902. This from the Times obituary when Houseman died in 1988:
John Houseman, who spent more than half a century in the theater as an influential producer and director but who did not achieve fame until, at the age of 71, he portrayed a crusty law school professor in the film ”The Paper Chase” and its subsequent television series, died of spinal cancer yesterday at his home in Malibu, Calif. He was 86 years old and despite his failing health had been working on various projects until three days ago.
Professor Kingsfield, the role he played in ”The Paper Chase,” led to another well-known part, that of a haughty spokesman for a brokerage house in its television commercials, delivering the lines: ”They make money the old-fashioned way. They earn it.”
Houseman won a supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of Professor Kingsfield.
On this date in 1862 President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation, in effect threatening the Confederate states to quit the rebellion or he’d free the slaves:
“That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
The rebellion continued so, indeed, on January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation.
Nathan Hale was hanged by the British as a spy on this date in 1776. Hale was in fact spying on the British for General Washington — he had volunteered for the duty.
A statue of Nathan Hale is located between the [CIA] Auditorium and the Original Headquarters Building. Hale was the first American executed for spying for his country. This statue is a copy of the original work created in 1914 for Yale University, Nathan Hale’s alma mater. The Agency’s statue was erected on the grounds in 1973, 200 years after his graduation from Yale.
There is no known portrait of Nathan Hale; this life-size statue portrays what little written description there is of him. The statue captures the spirit of the moment before his execution – a 21-year-old man prepared to meet his death for honor and country, hands and feet bound, face resolute, and his eyes on the horizon. His last words, “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” circle the base around his feet.
He stands vigilant guard on the Agency and is a continuing reminder to its employees of the duties and sacrifices of an intelligence officer.