Billy Gray, the kid that befriended Klaatu in the classic 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still, is 74 today. Billy’s old enough to play Professor Barnhardt this time around. Gray was Bud on the 50s sitcom Father Knows Best.
Richard Moll of Night Court is 69.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is 51.
Patrick Dempsey is 46.
Orlando Bloom is 35.
Nate Silver, statistician and journalist, is 34.
“I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor; Believe me, honey, rich is better.”
Sophia Kalish was born at a farm house along the road in Russia as her mother was emigrating to America on this date in 1884. As Sophie Tucker she was one of the great stars of vaudeville, the Ziegfeld Follies and early movies. In the 1930s she brought elements of nostalgia for the early years of 20th century into her show. She was billed as “The Last of the Red Hot Mamas.” Her hearty sexual appetite was a frequent subject of her songs, unusual for female performers of the era. In addition to her performing, Sophie Tucker was active in efforts to unionize professional actors, and was elected president of the American Federation of Actors in 1938.
“From birth to age eighteen, a girl needs good parents. From eighteen to thirty-five, she needs good looks. From thirty-five to fifty-five, she needs a good personality. From fifty-five on, she needs good cash.”
A.B. Guthrie was born on this date in 1901. His The Big Sky (1946) is one of the classic works of western American literature. Its sequel, The Way West (1949), won the Pulitizer Prize for fiction in 1950.
What “The Big Sky” is: An unflinching account not only of the hardships and dangers of the 1830-1845 mountain man era, but also a glimpse into the meaning of our own existence here — the reasons why we come, the reasons why we stay. True to Guthrie’s bid for honesty, the answers aren’t always pretty.
Guthrie’s Boone Caudill is the quintessential anti-hero, a mean, moody misanthrope who heads West to escape his troubled past as well as to seek adventure and freedom. Ultimately, though, trouble follows Boone — because, after all, the one thing he can’t run away from is himself.
The theme, Guthrie wrote, is “that each man kills the thing he loves.
“If it had any originality at all, it was only that a band of men, the fur-hunters, killed the life they loved and killed it with a thoughtless prodigality perhaps unmatched.”
“The 100 Most Influential Montanans of the Century” by The Missoulian (1999)
Horatio Alger Jr. was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on this date in 1832.
He was one of the most influential writers in American history. He wrote more than a hundred novels, almost every single one of which tells the same story: A young boy, living in poverty, manages to find success and happiness by working hard and never giving up. But even though Alger’s books were all the same, and none was a literary masterpiece, they were read by thousands of young Americans all across the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has been argued that Horatio Alger, more than any other person, was responsible for creating the idea of the American Dream.
… of actress Katherine “Scottie” MacGregor, 87. She was the nasty, self-aggrandizing Harriet Oleson on The Little House on the Prairie series.
… of Ray Price. Still for the good times at 86.
When Ray Noble Price was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996, many noted that the honor was long overdue. Such feelings weren’t based so much on the longevity of his career or on the number of major hits he has recorded, for in those regards Price was no different from many other deserving artists awaiting induction. More importantly, Price has been one of country’s great innovators. He changed the sound of country music from the late 1950s forward by developing a rhythmic brand of honky-tonk that has been hugely influential ever since. As steel guitarist Don Helms, a veteran of Hank Williams’s Drifting Cowboys once put it, “Ray Price created an era.”
… of William Lee Golden. The big, bearded member, but not the bass voice, of the Oak Ridge Boys is 73.
… of Smokin’ Joe Frazier. The champ would have been 68 today. He died in November.
… of Cynthia Robinson. She’s dancing to the music at 66 (Sly and the Family Stone).
You might like to hear the horns blowin’,
Cynthia on the throne, yeah!
Cynthia & Jerry got a message they’re sayin’:
[Cynthia:] All the squares, go home!
… of Kirstie Alley. She’s 61.
… of the most dangerous man in America, Rush Limbaugh. The audio-terrorist is 61.
… of Howard Stern. He’s 58.
… of broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour. She’s 54.
… of actor Oliver Platt, 52.
… of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The billionaire is 48.
… of Naya Rivera of Glee. The high school cheerleader is 25.
Coporal Hayes is the Marine on the left, his hand reaching for the staff.
Ira Hamilton Hayes was born at Sacaton, Arizona, on this date 89 years ago. The Pima Indian was one of six marines immortalized in Joe Rosenthal’s photo of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi. Hayes did not fair well with the resultant publicity. He died of exposure and alcohol poisoning at age 32. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Tex (Woodward Maurice) Ritter was born on January 12, 1905. It’s his voice singing “Blood on the Saddle” at Disney’s Country Bears Jamboree. John Ritter is a son.
By mid-decade, the enormous success of Gene Autry’s films led other studios to look for their own singing cowboys. One of the first producers to recognize Ritter’s potential was Edward Finney. He signed Ritter and released his first starring film, Song of the Gringo, in November 1936.
Ritter was well suited to the role of singing cowboy. He looked and acted the part and was singing the type of songs he loved best. Unfortunately most of his films were made for Grand National and Monogram, two of the so-called poverty row studios. These studios were smaller than the majors and made their films on limited budgets. Although Ritter’s films never had the production values of films starring Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, he still enjoyed considerable success at the box office.
In 1942, after a decade of recording with little success, Ritter became one of the first artists signed by the newly formed Capitol Records. He soon began scoring major hits with records such as “Jealous Heart,” “ Rye Whiskey,” “I’m Wastin’ My Tears on You,” and “You Will Have to Pay.” Ritter would record for Capitol for the rest of his life.
A different type of film opportunity came to Ritter in 1952, when he was asked to sing the title song of the Gary Cooper–Grace Kelly western High Noon. The song was used as a narrative throughout the film and became Ritter’s signature song. He went on to record a number of other western theme songs throughout the decade.
Jack London was born in San Francisco on this date in 1876. London wrote more than 50 books, including The Call of the Wild and White Fang (1906). His most unforgettable story may be To Build a Fire. London died at age 40.
Frederick Law Olmsted by John Singer Sargent, 1895
The artist John Singer Sargent was born on January 12, 1856. Sargent created around 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors and is particularly well known for his portraits.
John Hancock was born on this date in 1737. Hancock was President of the Continental Congress of the United States of America in the summer of 1776. He was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.
John Winthrop, Puritan leader and early Massachusetts governor, most famous for his “city on the hill” metaphor (borrowed from the Sermon on the Mount, of course), was born on January 12, 1588 (1587 OS). Winthrop’s first three wives died, but his fourth outlasted him.
Vicki Peterson of the Bangles is 54 (the others forming The Bangles were Vicki’s sister Debbi and Susanna Hoffs).
Ben Crenshaw is 60. Crenshaw won the Masters in 1984 and 1995.
Naomi Judd is 66. Her birth name was Diana Ellen Judd.
Clarence Clemons should have been 70 today. He died in June.
Rod Taylor is 82. He was the male lead in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and had 50 or so other credits.
Carroll Shelby, 1957
Carroll Shelby is 89. He was a race driver but his greatest fame is from designing the Mustang Cobras.
Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Max Carey was born on this date in 1890.
Max Carey enjoyed six seasons in which he hit over .300, but he built a more lasting reputation as a superb defensive center fielder and a successful basestealer. The Pirates great still holds several National League records for fielding prowess and led the league in steals 10 times. In 1922, he approached perfection on the basepaths, stealing 51 bases in 53 attempts. In 1925 at age 35, Carey experienced his best season, hitting .343 during the regular season and .458 in the World Series.
Author and environmentalist Aldo Leopold was born on this date in 1887.
Born in 1887 and raised in Burlington, Iowa, Aldo Leopold developed an interest in the natural world at an early age, spending hours observing, journaling, and sketching his surroundings. Graduating from the Yale Forest School in 1909, he eagerly pursued a career with the newly established U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and New Mexico. By the age of 24, he had been promoted to the post of Supervisor for the Carson National Forest in New Mexico. In 1922, he was instrumental in developing the proposal to manage the Gila National Forest as a wilderness area, which became the first such official designation in 1924.
. . .
A prolific writer, authoring articles for professional journals and popular magazines, Leopold conceived of a book geared for general audiences examining humanity’s relationship to the natural world. Unfortunately, just one week after receiving word that his manuscript would be published, Leopold experienced a heart attack and died on April 21, 1948 while fighting a neighbor’s grass fire that escaped and threatened the Leopold farm and surrounding properties. A little more than a year after his death Leopold’s collection of essays A Sand County Almanac was published. With over two million copies sold, it is one of the most respected books about the environment ever published, and Leopold has come to be regarded by many as the most influential conservation thinker of the twentieth century.
Leopold’s legacy continues to inform and inspire us to see the natural world “as a community to which we belong.”
Alexander Stirling Calder was born on January 11th in 1870. He was the son and father of Alexander Calders.
The philosopher and psychologist William James was born on this date in 1842.
William James was an original thinker in and between the disciplines of physiology, psychology and philosophy. His twelve-hundred page masterwork, The Principles of Psychology (1890), is a rich blend of physiology, psychology, philosophy, and personal reflection that has given us such ideas as “the stream of thought” and the baby’s impression of the world “as one great blooming, buzzing confusion” (PP 462). It contains seeds of pragmatism and phenomenology, and influenced generations of thinkers in Europe and America, including Edmund Husserl, Bertrand Russell, John Dewey, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. James studied at Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School and the School of Medicine, but his writings were from the outset as much philosophical as scientific.
The Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald GCB KCMG PC PC (Can) QC was born on January 11th in 1815. Macdonald was the first prime minister of Canada, 1867-1873 (and again 1878-1891).
Ezra Cornell was born on this date in 1807. He was the founder of Western Union and the co-founder of Cornell University.
Alexander Hamilton was born on Nevis in the Caribbean on Janaury 11, 1755 (or possibly 1757).
Although Willie McCovey played hurt throughout much of his 22-year career, the Giants first baseman used a sweeping swing to belt 521 homers and collect more than 2,200 hits. He led the National League in homers three times and in RBIs twice, also pacing the circuit in slugging percentage for three consecutive years (1968-70). McCovey earned National League MVP honors in 1969, 10 years after earning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1959.
… of Scott McKenzie. So “if you’re going to San Francisco” wish Scott a happy 73rd birthday.
… of William Sanderson. The character actor (E.B. Farnum in “Deadwood,” Larry on “Newhart,” Lippy in “Lonesome Dove”) is 68.
… of Rod Stewart. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 67.
Rod Stewart can be regarded as the rock generation’s heir to Sam Cooke. Like Cooke, Stewart delivers both romantic ballads and uptempo material with conviction and panache, and he sings in a warm, soulful rasp. A singer’s singer, Stewart seemed made to inhabit the spotlight.
… of George Foreman. The boxing hall-of-famer and cook is 63. Foreman has five daughters and five sons and has named all of the sons George — George Jr., George III, George IV, George V, and George VI.
… of Patricia Mae Andrzejewski. Pat Benatar is 59. She won four consecutive Grammy awards in the 1980s for “Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female.”
… of Shawn Colvin. The singer is 56.
Shawn Colvin is one of the bright spots of the so-called “new folk movement” that began in the late ’80s. And though she grew out of the somewhat limited “woman with a guitar” school, she has managed to keep the form fresh with a diverse approach, avoiding the clichéd sentiments and all-too-often formulaic arrangements that have plagued the genre. In less than a decade of recording, Colvin has emerged as a songcraftsman with plenty of pop smarts, which has earned her a broad and loyal following.
Jim Croce was born on this date in 1943. Croce released just 11 singles, but “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle” made it to number one, the first in July 1973, the second posthumously after Croce died in a plane crash at age 30 in September of that year.
In the music industry, arguably the worst tragedy that can befall an artist is to die in their prime, when he or she is just beginning to break through to the mainstream and reach people on a national level. One such artist was Jim Croce, a songwriter with a knack for both upbeat, catchy singles and empathetic, melancholy ballads. Though Croce only recorded a few studio albums before an untimely plane crash, he continues to be remembered posthumously. Croce appealed to fans as a common man, and it was not a gimmick — he was a father and husband who went through a series of blue-collar jobs. And whether he used dry wit, gentle emotions, or sorrow, Croce sang with a rare form of honesty and power. Few artists have ever been able to pull off such down-to-earth storytelling as convincingly as he was.
Linda Susan Boreman was born 63 years ago today; she died in 2002 from injuries sustained in a traffic accident. Her stage name was Linda Lovelace. The 1972 film Deep Throat, starring Lovelace, was one of the first pornographic films to have a plot, certain acts, decent production values and mainstream success. It was arguably the first porn film to become part of pop culture. Lovelace/Boreman at first celebrated the film and her fame but later became anti-porn and claimed she had been exploited and abused.
Had he not smoked, the historian and author Stephen Ambrose might have been 76 today; he died in 2002.
A pre-med student, he was annoyed when his state university requirements compelled him to take an American history class the second semester of his sophomore year. It was called, “Representative Americans,” and was based on biographies of individuals throughout the country’s history; the first class focused on George Washington. The professor said that the students would be completing their own biography of an unknown Wisconsinite, which they would have to use primary research from the state historical society to write. The result, the professor promised, would add to the sum of the world’s knowledge.
“And that just hit me like a sledgehammer,” Ambrose later said. “It had never before occurred to me that I could add to the sum of the world’s knowledge.” He changed his major to history, and at the end of the term wrote a 10-page biography of a Civil War-era one-term Wisconsin Congressman named Charles Billinghurst. Ambrose marveled that he was now the world’s leading expert on Charles Billinghurst. “Now what I soon learned was, the reason for that was that nobody else cared about Charles A. Billinghurst,” Ambrose laughed. But his next epiphany was what transformed him from a historian to a world-class storyteller: “But I can make ’em care if I tell the story right.”
He became the biographer of Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, he wrote a best-selling book about the Lewis & Clark expedition titled Undaunted Courage (1996), and wrote multiple books on WWII, like Citizen Soldiers (1997) and Band of Brothers (1992).
I had lunch with Ambrose and his wife thirty or so years ago when he was working on the Nixon book.
Roy Edward Disney was born on January 10th in 1930; he died in 2009. His father was Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle was Walter Elias Disney. Roy E. was the last member of the family to be involved in the management of the company.
Max Patkin was born on this date in 1920; he died in 1999. Patkin, the Clown Prince of Baseball, played before crowds at ballparks big and small for more than 50 years. He played himself in Bull Durham.
Ray Bolger was born on January 10, 1904. He’s best known, of course, as Hunk in The Wizard of Oz.
Dumas Malone was born in Coldwater, Michigan, on this date in 1892. Professor Malone, who died in 1986, was a historian, biographer and editor. His foremost work, the six volume Jefferson and His Time, is the most authoritative biography of the William and Mary alumnus who became author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia. The last volume, Sage of Monticello was completed when Malone was 89 years-old. Dumas Malone was presented the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1983.
“Pa” Charles Ingalls was born on this date in 1836. Daughter Mary was born on this date in 1865.
… of Judith Krantz, 84. She published her first novel at age 50.
… of Bart Starr. The hall-of-fame quarterback is 78.
… of Dick Enberg. The sportscaster is 77 (oh, my!).
… of Joan Báez. The singer is 71. Her parents were born in Mexico and Scotland. Joan was born on Staten Island, New York.
… of Jimmy Page. The Led Zeppelin rocker is 68.
Combining the visceral power and intensity of hard rock with the finesse and delicacy of British folk music, Led Zeppelin redefined rock in the Seventies and for all time. They were as influential in that decade as the Beatles were in the prior one. Their impact extends to classic and alternative rockers alike. Then and now, Led Zeppelin looms larger than life on the rock landscape as a band for the ages with an almost mystical power to evoke primal passions. The combination of Jimmy Page’s powerful, layered guitar work, Robert Plant’s keening, upper-timbre vocals, John Paul Jones’ melodic bass playing and keyboard work, and John Bonham’s thunderous drumming made for a band whose alchemy proved enchanting and irresistible. “The motto of the group is definitely, ‘Ever onward,’” Page said in 1977, perfectly summing up Led Zeppelin’s forward-thinking philosophy.
… of Brenda Gayle Webb. Loretta Lynn’s little sister Crystal Gayle is 61.
… of J.K. Simmons. He’s 57. He’s seen on The Closer and Law & Order as Dr. Skoda, and was terrific, I thought, as Juno’s dad. He’s very good in a small role in Up in the Air, too.
… of New York Times Pulitizer Prize winning book critic Michiko Kakutani. She is 57 today.
… of Muggsy Bogues, shortest player ever in the NBA at 5-foot, three. Bogues is 47 today.
… of Dave Matthews. He’s 45.
… of Chad Ochocinco. He’s Tres-Quatro.
… of Sergio Garcia, 32.
Gilligan (and Maynard Krebs) was born on this date in 1935. That’s Bob Denver, who died in 2005.
Lee Van Cleef, the Bad in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, was born on January 9, 1925. He died in 1989 (but the Good and the Ugly are still alive).
iTunes was announced 11 years ago today; the iPhone five years ago today.
… was born in Yorba Linda, California, on January 9th 99 years ago today (1913).
I was contacted by the staff working with Richard Nixon on his memoirs, RN, many years ago. I was asked to see if I could determine — from among the Nixon papers in my custody — the time of day he was born. As I remember it, my research was inconclusive. Someone else’s must have been helpful. The memoirs begin:
I was born in a house my father built. My birth on the night of January 9, 1913, coincided with a record-breaking cold snap in our town of Yorba Linda, California.
If not for this research request, for other efforts I later received an autographed copy of the memoirs inscribed to me: “To Ken, With appreciation for his service to the nation.” I’ve always cherished that inscription.
Nixon, by the way, did not use his middle name or initial. Though you always see him referred to as Richard M. Nixon, he himself signed as Richard Nixon and he titled his memoir RN.
Jesse Garon and Elvis Aron Presley were born in a house without electricity or plumbing in East Tupelo, Mississippi, on this date in 1935. Jesse, the older twin, was stillborn. The parents were Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Smith Presley.
Elvis Presley is the undisputed King of Rock and Roll. He rose from humble circumstances to launch the rock and roll revolution with his commanding voice and charismatic stage presence. In the words of the historical marker that stands outside the house where he was born: “Presley’s career as a singer and entertainer redefined popular music.”
Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935, and grew up surrounded by gospel music of the Pentecostal church. In 1948 the family moved to Memphis, where he was exposed to blues and jazz on Beale Street. After graduating from high school in 1953, an 18-year-old Presley visited the Memphis Recording Service – also the home of Sun Records – to record his voice. Owner/producer Sam Phillips was struck by the plaintive emotion in Presley’s vocals and subsequently teamed him with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. In July 1954 the trio worked up “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” – blues and country songs, respectively – in a crackling, uptempo style that stands as the blueprint for rock and roll.
After five groundbreaking singles, Presley’s contract was sold to RCA Records and his career quickly took off. …
Milton Supman was born in Franklinton, North Carolina, on this date in 1926. On TV he became the comedian Soupy Sales, beginning in Detroit on WXYZ-TV in 1953 with Lunch with Soupy Sales. The show was mostly just silliness with puppets White Fang and Black Tooth, Pookie and, of course, Willie the Worm. Supman, or Sales, also hosted an 11PM show in the 1950s, Soups On — the show always featured a musician, often a jazz musician. Coleman Hawkins, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Stan Getz appeared on the show. In 1959 Soupy’s daytime show went on ABC; in the mid-1960s it was syndicated nationwide from New York.
On January 1, 1965, miffed at having to work on the holiday, Sales ended his live broadcast by encouraging his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents’ bedrooms and remove those “funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents” from their pants and pocketbooks. “Put them in an envelope and mail them to me”, Soupy instructed the children. “And I’ll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!” He was then hit with a pie. Several days later, a chagrined Soupy announced that money (mostly Monopoly money) was unexpectedly being received in the mail. He explained that he had been joking and announced that the contributions would be donated to charity. As parents’ complaints increased, WNEW’s management felt compelled to suspend Sales for two weeks. Young viewers picketed Channel 5. The uproar surrounding Sales’ suspension increased his popularity. Sales described the incident in his 2001 autobiography Soupy Sez! My Life and Zany Times.
Soupy Sales died in 2009. He and his guests had been hit with an estimated 20,000 pies by then.
Today is also the birthday
… of Larry Storch of F Troop. He’s 89.
… of newscasters Sander Vanocur (84) and Charles Osgood (79).
… of Dame Shirley Bassey. The singer of “Goldfinger” is 75.
… of Bob Eubanks. “The Newlywed Game” emcee is 74.
… of Stephen Hawking. The physicist and author is 70.
… of Yvette Mimieux. The actress is 70.
Born to a French father and Mexican mother, actress Yvette Mimieux grew up within shouting distance of Hollywood Boulevard. The blonde, well-proportioned Mimieux was a beauty contest winner and model when signed to an MGM contract in 1959. With her second film appearance as ethereal 800th century girl Weena in The Time Machine (1960), Mimieux achieved stardom; with her next film, Where the Boys Are (1960), she proved capable of heavy dramatics via a discreetly handled “gang rape” sequence. An appearance as a terminally ill girl on the 1964 Dr. Kildare episode “Tyger Tyger” drew a great deal of press attention for Mimieux, principally because she spent most of her early scenes in a bikini.
… of David Bowie. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is 65.
David Bowie is rock’s foremost futurist and a genre-bending pioneer, chameleon, and transformer. Throughout his solo career and in his alliances with other artists – including Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno and Nine Inch Nails – Bowie has positioned himself on the cutting edge of rock and roll. His innovations have created or furthered several major trends in rock and roll, including glam-rock, art-rock and the very notion of the self-mythologized, larger-than-life rock star.
Bruce Sutter was on the fringes of professional baseball, a struggling Minor League pitcher with an injured arm, until he received a gift that changed his life forever. A wise, old man of the game taught him a new pitch — a split-fingered fastball — and in a matter of years, Sutter took this new weapon and blazed a trail as one of the game’s top relief pitchers. A six-time All-Star, Sutter was the 1979 National League Cy Young Award-winner and was on the mound for the last six outs of the Cardinals’ 1982 World Series championship. He saved at least 20 games in nine consecutive seasons and set an NL mark with 45 saves in 1984. The right-hander retired following an arm injury with 300 saves and a 2.84 ERA to his credit.
R. Kelly is 45. Sean Paul’s Temperature is 39 today.
Kim Jong-un is 28 or 29 today.
Rose Louise Hovick was born 101 years ago today. As Gypsy Rose Lee she was a burlesque star. Her memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy.
Albert Bierstadt was born in Solingen, Germany, in 1830 but came to American in 1833. His landscape paintings of the American west are among the best of their kind.
Cartoonist Charles Addams, from whom the Addams family emerged, was born 100 years ago today. Addams’s cartoons appeared in The New Yorker from 1932 until his death in 1988. The Google Doodle today salutes Addams.
January 7th is the birthday
… of William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist and winner of an Oscar for the screenplay. He’s 84.
… of Paul Revere Dick, 74. He and Mark Lindsay formed Paul Revere & The Raiders in 1960. They recorded “Louie Louie” in the same studio as The Kingsmen in Portland, Oregon in 1963. (The song was written in 1955.) The Kingsmen won that battle, but The Raiders went on to record five top 10 hits, including the number one, “Indian Reservation,” which sold six million copies.
… of Jann Wenner, publisher of Rolling Stone. He’s 66.
… of Kenneth Clark Loggins. He’s 64.
… of David Stephen Caruso, 56.
… of Katherine Anne Couric. University of Virginia grad (1979), head resident of the Lawn and Tri-Delt, Katie Couric is 55.
… of Donna Rice, 54 today. That’s her in 1988 on Senator Gary Hart’s lap near the boat Monkey Business. That particular monkey business removed the married senator from the presidential race where he had been considered the front-runner.
… of Nicholas Kim Coppola. The Oscar-winner, known better as Nicolas Cage, is 48.
Jeremy Renner is 41.
Prissy, actress Butterfly McQueen, was born Thelma McQueen on this date in 1911. Prissy was her first movie role. Ms. McQueen, who never married, earned a college degree at age 64. She died in 1995.
Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7th in 1891. She was an author and part of the Harlem Renaissance.
Millard Fillmore, the 13th President of the United States, was born January 7, 1800. Fillmore succeeded Zachary Taylor when Taylor died of gastroenteritis 16 months into his term (July 9, 1850). Though from New York, Fillmore was neutral or pro-slavery. He signed the the various acts of the fateful Compromise of 1850 including the Fugitive Slave Act.
Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale is 84 today.
Robert Duvall was born in San Diego 81 years ago today. Duvall won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies in 1983; he has two other nominations for best actor and three for best supporting actor. Among characters Duvall has portrayed are Boo Radley, Frank Burns, Tom Hagen, Lt. Col. William ‘Bill’ Kilgore, Bull Meechum and the unforgettable Augustus McCrae.
Umberto Eco is 80 today.
Charlie Rose is 70.
Diane Keaton was born in Los Angeles 66 years ago today. Keaton won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Annie Hall in 1977. She has had three other Oscar nominations. She has never married but has adopted two children. Her real name is Diane Hall; she changed to Keaton, her mother’s maiden name, because there was already a Diane Hall in the Actor’s Guild.
Iris DeMent is 51.
Marilyn Manson is 43.
January Jones is 34 today.
George Reeves was born in 1914 on January 5th. He was Miss Scarlett’s beau in Gone with the Wind, but is known now of course for playing Superman on TV 1952-1958. IMDb lists 78 credits. Reeves committed suicide at age 45 (some say he was murdered by his lover’s husband).
Jane Wyman was born on January 5th in 1917. She won the best actress Oscar in 1949 for her performance in Johnny Belinda; she had three other best actress nominations. Ms. Wyman died in 2007. She was married five times to four men (one being Ronald Reagan 1940-1949), but unmarried during the last 42 years of her life. Her real name was Sarah Jane Mayfield; Wyman was her first married name.
Sam Phillips was born near Florence, Alabama, on this date in 1923. He died in 2003.
If Sam Phillips had discovered only Elvis Presley, he would have earned his rightful place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But his Sun Records label was also an early home to Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Howlin’ Wolf and more of rock and roll’s greatest talents. Sun produced more rock and roll records than any other label of its time. They included the songs that served as the foundation for rock and roll, such as Elvis Presley’s first five singles (beginning with “That’s All Right” b/w “Blue Moon of Kentucky” in 1954), Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes,” Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On” and Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line.”
But there was much, much more: Bill Justis’ aptly titled sax instrumental “Raunchy,” a national Top Three hit; some of Roy Orbison’s earliest recordings, including “Ooby Dooby”; the rockabilly classic “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll,” by Billy Lee Riley; the first pop hit, “Lonely Weekends,” for pianist Charlie Rich; and such high-charting R&B entries as Rufus Thomas’s “Bear Cat.” It is a testimony to Phillips’ ecumenical, color-blind vision of American music that a song like “Breathless,” by Jerry Lee Lewis, could make the Top Ten on the pop, country and R&B charts alike.
http://youtu.be/WG9fs7qnBoY
King Camp Gillette was born on this date in 1855.
At the age of 17, Gillette became a traveling salesman, who made improvement to his wares as well as selling them. By 1890, he had earned four patents. More importantly, he had learned from the President of his company that disposable items made for big sales.
On the road, Gillette used to shave every morning with a Star Safety Razor: that is, a heavy, wedge-shaped blade fitted perpendicularly into its handle. It would have been downright dangerous, in the lavatory of a rumbling train, for Gillette to shave with the type of straight razor used by most men at the time. However, the safety razor did share a major shortcoming with standard razors: the blade had to be sharpened frequently on a leather strop; and even so, the blade eventually became too worn to sharpen.
One morning in 1895, Gillette, now living in Boston, had a revelation: if he could put a sharp edge on a small square of sheet steel, he could market a safety razor blade that could be thrown away when it grew dull, and readily replaced. Gillette visited metallurgists at MIT, who assured him his idea was impossible. It took Gillette six years to find an engineer, William Emery Nickerson (an MIT-trained inventor), who could produce the blade Gillette wanted.
In 1901, Gillette and Nickerson formed the American Safety Razor Company (soon thereafter renamed for Gillette himself). For the first time, razor blades would be sold in multiple packages, with the razor handle a one-time purchase. Production began in 1903; Gillette won a patent for his product the next year.
Stephen Decatur was born in Sinepuxent, Maryland, on January 5th in 1779. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1798.
At the age of 25, Decatur became the most striking figure of the Tripolitan Wars. On February 16, 1804, Decatur led 74 volunteers into Tripoli harbor to burn the captured American frigate Philadelphia. British Admiral Lord Nelson is said to have called the raid “the most bold and daring act of the age.” Raised to the rank of captain, Decatur was the youngest captain in the American navy.
At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Decatur was the commanding officer of the frigate United States, which he had served aboard as a midshipman. As commander of the ship, he defeated and captured the British frigate Macedonian in October 1812. He brought the vessel safely back to the United States. It was the only British ship to be refitted and commissioned in the American navy during the war. Early in 1815 he was commodore of a three-ship squadron, when his flagship, the President, while running the British blockade, struck bottom. The damaged ship was unable to escape the blockading squadron and was captured.
In 1815, Decatur commanded a nine-ship squadron headed for Mediterranean to end the cruising of Algerian corsairs against American shipping. Decatur’s abilities as a negotiator were recognized after he secured a treaty with the Algerians. During celebration of the peace with the North African state, Decatur declared his famous line: “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be right; but our country right or wrong.”
Decatur was noted not only for his brilliant Navy career, but also for his involvement in duels, which was how men of honor settled disputes in his day. On March 22, 1820, he was killed in a duel with Commodore James Barron. Barron was court-martialed for surrendering his ship to a British man-of-war in 1807. This surrender was one of the major events leading to the War of 1812. When Barron returned to the United States after the war, he had intentions of resuming his naval service but met much criticism, especially from Commodore Decatur. Barron was severely wounded in his leg but fired the shot that ended Decatur’s life.
Zebulon Pike was born in Lamberton, New Jersey, on January 5th in 1779. In 1806-1807:
Zebulon Pike sets out on an expedition to make peace among the Pawnee in Nebraska and explore the headwaters of the Arkansas River. His mission takes him into Colorado, where on Thanksgiving Day he and his party try unsuccessfully to climb the peak that bears his name.
Crossing the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Zebulon Pike comes to the Rio Grande, which he mistakes for the Red River. Here he builds an outpost and is discovered by a Spanish patrol, which takes him first to Santa Fe, then into Mexico, and finally to the Tejas border near Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he re-enters the United States in June. After reporting on Spanish forces and settlements in the Southwest, Pike publishes an account of his expedition which makes him a national celebrity.
Pikes Peak ranks 32nd among Rocky Mountain summits.
Henry Ford announced a minimum wage of $5 day as part of a larger benefits package on January 5, 1914.
To run the factory continuously instead of only eighteen hours a day, giving employment to several thousand more men by employing three shifts of eight hours each, instead of only two nine-hour shifts, as at present.
To establish a minimum wage scale of $5 per day. Even the boy who sweeps up the floors will get that much.
Before any man in any department of the company who does not seem to be doing good work shall be discharged, an opportunity will be given to him to try to make good in every other department. No man shall be discharged except for proved unfaithfulness or irremediable inefficiency.
Doris Kearns Goodwin is 69. Goodwin won the Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The American Homefront During World War II.
Patty Loveless is 55. Andy Borowitz is 54. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. is 52.
Julia Ormond is 47.
Issac Newton was born on this date in 1643. The NOVA website devoted to Einstein talks also of the genius of Newton.
There is a parlor game physics students play: Who was the greater genius? Galileo or Kepler? (Galileo) Maxwell or Bohr? (Maxwell, but it’s closer than you might think). Hawking or Heisenberg? (A no-brainer, whatever the best-seller lists might say. It’s Heisenberg). But there are two figures who are simply off the charts. Isaac Newton is one. The other is Albert Einstein. If pressed, physicists give Newton pride of place, but it is a photo finish — and no one else is in the race.
Newton’s claim is obvious. He created modern physics. His system described the behavior of the entire cosmos — and while others before him had invented grand schemes, Newton’s was different. His theories were mathematical, making specific predictions to be confirmed by experiments in the real world. Little wonder that those after Newton called him lucky — “for there is only one universe to discover, and he discovered it. “
The physician, political leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush was born on this date in 1746 — or on December 24, 1745, depending. When he was six, Britain and its colonies converted to the Gregorian calendar, skipping forward 11 days. Rush urged the removal of General Washington early in the War for Independence (he later regretted that action), helped prepare Meriwether Lewis for his expedition with William Clark, and brought about the reconciliation between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1812. Rush was an prominent early abolitionist but owned a slave.
Jacob Grimm was born on January 4, 1785. He was a philologist and mythologist, who with his brother Wilhelm collected and published Grimms’ Fairy Tales. It was titled Children’s and Household Tales; the first volume was published 200 years ago.
Louis Braille was born on this date in 1809. He died at age 43, but managed to create the alphabet named for him in his short life. Braille was blind from a childhood accident.
Charles Sherwood Stratton was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on January 4, 1838. As an adult Stratton was 2 feet, 11 inches tall and went by the name General Tom Thumb. He was 3 feet, 4 inches at death — from a stroke at age 45.
Sterling Holloway was born on January 4, 1905. He was an actor with bushy red hair and a high voice, perhaps best known as the voice of Winnie the Pooh, though he has 176 credits at IMDb.
Thomas Edison electrocuted Topsy, an elephant, on this date in 1903 to proved alternating current was dangerous. It certainly was dangerous for Topsy.
… of John Paul Jones. No, not the Navy guy. The Led Zeppelin guy. He’s 66.
… of Victoria Principal. Pamela Barnes Ewing (Dallas) is 62.
… of Mel Gibson. He is 56.
… of Danica McKellar, 37. You know, Winnie from The Wonder Years. After that show she graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a degree in mathematics.
… of Eli Manning, 31.
J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel) Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on this date in 1892. Tolkien is best known for his fantasy novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954-1955).
Joseph de Veuster was born on this date in 1840. Known as Father Damien, the Belgian priest spent the last 16 years of his life ministering to the leper colony on Molokai.
“This is my work in the world. Sooner or later I shall become a leper, but may it not be until I have exhausted my capabilities for good.”
With King Kamehameha, Damien’s statue is one of the two chosen by Hawaii to be displayed in Statuary Hall in the nation’s Capitol.
Inspired by a father who encouraged his daughters to be useful and a mother who was active in business affairs, Lucretia Mott worked as a tireless advocate for the oppressed while also raising six children. Over the course of her lifetime, Mott actively participated in many of the reform movements of the day including abolition, temperance, and pacifism. She also played a vital role in organizing the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, which launched the woman suffrage movement in America.
Lucretia Mott died last evening at her residence, near Philadelphia, in her eighty-eighth year. Mrs. Mott, whose name was probably as widely known as that of any other public woman in this or the preceding generation, was born in the old whaling town of Nantucket on the 3d of January, 1793. Her maiden name was Coffin. When 11 years old, her parents removed to Boston, where she went to school, finishing her education at a young ladies’ boarding school in Dutchess County, N.Y., in which, when only 15 years old, she became a teacher. In 1809 she rejoined her parents, who had removed to Philadelphia, and in 1811, two years later, was married to James Mott. She was then in her nineteenth year. Her husband went into partnership with her father, Mr. Coffin, and Mrs. Mott again turned her attention to educational matters. In 1817 she took charge of a school in Philadelphia, and in 1818 began to preach. She made extended pilgrimages through New-England, Pennsylvania, Maryland and parts of Virginia advocating Quaker principles and waging at the same time a vigorous warfare against the evils of intemperance and slavery. In the division of the Society of Friends in 1827 she adhered to the Hicksites. Mrs. Mott took a prominent part in organizing the American Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia in 1833, and was a delegate to the famous World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1840, where, in company with other female delegates, she was refused admission on account of her sex. She was also prominent in the original Woman’s Rights Convention held at Seneca Falls, N.Y., in 1848, over which her husband, James Mott, presided. During the last 30 years she has been conspicuous in such gatherings and in annual meetings of the Society of Friends. Among her published works are “Sermons to Medical Students” and “A Discourse on Women.”
Apple, Inc. (Apple Computer, Inc. until 2007) was incorporated 35 years ago today. The company had been founded the previous April 1st.
Calvin Hill is 65. A Yale graduate, Hill was a first round draft choice by Dallas and was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1969. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection. Hill also had the strongest looking hands I ever saw.
Tia Carrere, 45. She was born Althea Rae Janairo in Honolulu (or possibly Kenya).
Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. is 44.
Christy Turlington, 43.
Taye Diggs, 41.
Paz Vega, 36. Her name is Paz Campos Trigo. She was born in Seville, Spain; her father a retired bull fighter. She is the mother of three.
Kate Bosworth, 29.
The “King of the Road” Roger Miller was born in Fort Worth on January 2, 1936.
One of the most multifaceted talents country music has ever known, Roger Dean Miller left a musical legacy of astonishing depth and range. A struggling honky-tonk singer and songwriter when he first hit Nashville in 1957, he blossomed into a country-pop superstar in the 1960s with self-penned crossover hits like “Dang Me” and “King of the Road.” In 1965–66 he won eleven Grammy awards. Two decades later, he received a 1985 Tony award for his score for Big River, a Broadway musical based on Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In between such career triumphs, Miller kept friends and fans in constant stitches as his extemporaneous wit proved almost as famous as his music.
Issac Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, on this date in 1920. The Writer’s Almanac profile in 2009 included this:
He published his first story when he was 18, and published 30 more stories in the next three years. At age 21, he wrote his most famous story after a conversation with his friend and editor John Campbell. Campbell had been reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Nature, which includes the passage, “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which has been shown!” Asimov went home and wrote the story “Nightfall” (1941), about a planet with six suns that has a sunset once every 2,049 years. It’s been anthologized over and over, and many people still consider it the best science fiction short story ever written.
Asimov died in 1992.
Sally Rand was born on this date in 1904. Ms. Rand was a burlesque dancer, famed for her feather fan and bubble dances. She was portrayed in the movie The Right Stuff, shown performing for the Mercury Astronauts in 1962 when she was 58. Ms. Rand died in 1979.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard was born in Bedford, England on this date in 1886. From The Writer’s Almanac in 2003:
He’s the author of the Antarctic travelogue, The Worst Journey in the World (1922). His book is about a search for the eggs of the Emperor Penguin in 1912. He and his two companions traveled in near total darkness and temperatures that reached negative 77.5 degrees Fahrenheit. He wrote, “Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised.”
Cherry-Garrard’s first-person account of this infamous sufferfest is a chilling testimonial to what happens when things really go south. Many have proven better at negotiating such epic treks than Scott, Cherry, and his crew, but none have written about it more honestly and compassionately than Cherry. “The horrors of that return journey are blurred to my memory and I know they were blurred to my body at the time. I think this applies to all of us, for we were much weakened and callous. The day we got down to the penguins I had not cared whether I fell into a crevasse or not.”
… of Frank Langella. The 2009 Oscar-nominee is 74.
… of Country Joe McDonald. Give me an “F”… He’s 70.
… of Grandmaster Flash. The rapper is 54. He was born Joseph Saddler.
… of the very wealthy Elin Nordegren. The former Mrs. Woods is 32.
Also born on New Year’s Day:
William Fox (of Fox Pictures) in 1879.
“Wild Bill” Donovan in 1883. Donovan directed the American Office of Strategic Service during World War II, precursor to the CIA.
J. Edgar Hoover, in 1895.
Barry Goldwater in 1909.
American League 1937 All-Stars, from left Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg. All would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame.
Hyman “Hank” Greenberg in 1911. Greenberg was twice American League MVP, hit 58 homeruns in 1938, and is considered by most the first Jewish sports superstar.
Jerome David Salinger in 1919.
Doak Walker in 1927. Walker won the Heisman in 1948 while at SMU, where he was three times All-American. He played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions (when they were good). Walker is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The award for the best college running back each year is called the Doak Walker Award. That’s how good of a running back Walker was. Rick Reilly said of Walker, “He was so shifty you couldn’t have tackled him in a phone booth, yet so humble that he wrote the Associated Press a thank-you note for naming him an All-American.” Walker died in 1998 from injuries in a skiing accident.
Betsy Ross was born on this date in 1752, but that was before the British Empire accepted the Gregorian calendar so it wasn’t New Year’s Day.
Paul Revere was born on January 1st in 1735 (but the calendar on the wall read December 21, 1734).
December 31st has been the last day of each year, in some places at some times, since 153 B.C.E., and more formally since the Julian calendar in 45 B.C.E. Under the influence of the Christian Church in the Middle Ages the year was sometimes instead centered on a religious festival, but the institution on the Gregorian calendar (1582 in Catholic countries, 1752 in Britain and her colonies) settled on December 31st as the last day of the year.
Today is the birthday
… of Sir Anthony Hopkins. The Oscar winner is 74. Hopkins has been nominated for Best Actor three times, winning for The Silence of the Lambs. He was also nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Amistad.
… of Tim Considine. Spin of “Spin and Marty” is 71. Considine was also the oldest of “My Three Sons” and played the soldier slapped by General Patton in the film Patton.
… of Sarah Miles. The Oscar nominee (best actress for Ryan’s Daughter) is 70.
… of Ben Kingsley. The Oscar winner is 68. He won Best Actor for his portrayal of Gandhi. He was also nominated for Best Actor for House of Sand and Fog and twice for Best Supporting Actor.
… of Diane Von Fürstenberg. The fashion designer is 66.
… of Tim Matheson. Animal House’s “Otter,” better known more recently as Vice President John Hoynes on “West Wing,” is 64.
… of Donna Summer. The Bad Girl is 63.
… of Bebe Neuwirth. Lilith is 53. Ms. Neuwirth won the Emmy twice for this role on Cheers.
… of Val Kilmer. He’s 52.
… of Gong Li. The actress is 46. So is author Nicholas Sparks.
Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. was born in Roswell, New Mexico, on this date in 1943. His grandmother gave him a guitar while he lived in Tucson and eventually he became John Denver. Denver died in 1997 when his experimental plane crashed into Monterey Bay.
George C. Marshall was born on this date in 1880.
Few Americans in the twentieth century have left a greater legacy to world peace than George C. Marshall (1880-1959). As chief of staff of the United States Army during World War II, it fell to Marshall to raise, train, and equip an army of several million men. It was Marshall who selected the officer corps and it was Marshall who played a leading role in planning military operations on a global scale. In the end, it was Marshall whom British Prime Minister Winston Churchill hailed as “the true organizer of victory.”
Yet history will associate Marshall foremost as the author of the Marshall Plan. The idea of extending billions of American dollars for European economic recovery was not his alone. He was only one of many Western leaders who realized the tragic consequences of doing nothing for those war-shattered countries in which basic living conditions were deplorable and still deteriorating two years after the end of the fighting. But Marshall, more than anyone else, led the way. In an address at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, Marshall, in his capacity as secretary of state, articulated the general principles of the Marshall Plan.
Twas a week before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Except these birthday folks
Today is the birthday
… of actor Roger Smith. He’s 79. Smith has been married to Ann-Margret 44 years. Health issues limited his acting career, which was most notable for 77 Sunset Strip.
… of Keith Richards. The Rolling Stone is 68.
… of Steven Spielberg. The director is 65.
… of Ray Liotta. The actor, a good fella, is 56.
… of Brad Pitt, 48.
… of Katie Holmes, 33. (Tom is 49.)
… of Christina Aguilera. She’s 31.
Elizabeth Ruth Grable was born on this date in 1916. She was known as Betty Grable and, according to Wikipedia, “Hosiery specialists of the era often noted the ideal proportions of her legs as: thigh (18.5″) calf (12″), and ankle (7.5″). Grable’s legs were famously insured by her studio for $1,000,000 with Lloyds of London.”
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was born December 18, 1897.
“Fletcher Henderson … led the most important of the pioneering big bands, which helped to set the pattern for most later big jazz bands playing arranged music.” (PBS – JAZZ – Fletcher Henderson)
The electrical engineer and inventor Edwin H. Armstrong was born on December 18, 1890. Armstrong was instrumental in the development of early radio and the inventor of FM.
Ty Cobb was born on this date in 1886.
Ty Cobb may have been baseball’s greatest player, if not the game’s fiercest competitor. His batting accomplishments are legendary — a lifetime average of .367, 297 triples, 4,191 hits, 12 batting titles (including nine in a row), 23 straight seasons in which he hit over .300, three .400 seasons (topped by a .420 mark in 1911) and 2,245 runs. Intimidating the opposition, The Georgia Peach stole 892 bases during a 24-year career, primarily with the Detroit Tigers.
Paul Klee was born on this date in 1879. That’s his “Red Balloon” (1922).
Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili was born on this date in 1878. We know him as Joseph Stalin (Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин). He was responsible for the execution of an estimate 700,000 people 1937-1938.
New Jersey ratified the Constitution on December 18, 1787, becoming the third state.
… Jane Austen (1775-1817). Best known for her novels about young women yearning to get married, she was never married.
… George Santayana (1863-1952). “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
… Noel Coward (1899-1973).
… Margaret Mead (1901-1978). “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
… Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). Clarke’s laws:
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Frank Deford is 73, as is Liv Ullmann.
Broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl is 70.
TV producer Steven Bocho is 68.
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is 62.
Benjamin Bratt is 48.
The first point-contact transistor was built 64 years ago today (1947).
The Boston Tea Party was 238 years ago tonight (1773).
Tim Conway is 78 today, Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five 69, and Don Johnson 62.
Albert James Freed was born 90 years ago today. As the deejay Alan Freed he was instrumental in the synthesis of blues, rhythm and blues and country that became Rock and Roll. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Disk jockey Alan Freed is widely credited with coining the term “rock and roll” to describe the uptempo black R&B records he played as early as 1951 on Cleveland radio station WJW. Freed called himself “the Moondog” and billed his show as the “Moondog Rock ‘n’ Roll Party.” A tireless and enthusiastic advocate of the music he played, Freed kept time to his favorite records by beating his hands on a phone book. He called it rock and roll because “it seemed to suggest the rolling, surging beat of the music.” The Freed-sponsored 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland is believed to be the nation’s first rock and roll concert. After conquering Cleveland, he took his show to WINS New York. There, he further spread the gospel of rock and roll via TV, movies and the celebrated all-star shows he promoted at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater. Those stage shows remain the essential rock and roll revues of the era.
Later, the tangled favors of this period would come back to haunt him in the payola scandals of the late Fifties. Amid the atmosphere of a witch hunt, Freed steadfastly maintained that he never played a record he didn’t like. Nonetheless, he was blackballed within the business and died a broken man in 1965.
John Hammond was born on this date in 1910. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Fame for Lifetime Achievement in 1986.
John Hammond was responsible for discovering Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Pete Seeger, and Bruce Springsteen, among others. As a producer, writer, critic, and board member of the NAACP, he was credited as a major force in integrating the music business. An early inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John Hammond was one of the most important figures in 20th century popular music.
Charles Duryea was born 150 years ago today. He is credited as being the first American to build a gas-powered automobile (in 1893).
Nero, the fifth and final Roman Emperor of the Julian-Claudian dynasty, was born on this date in 37. He was Emperor from 54-68. Nero was descended from Mark Antony and Octavia Minor on both sides of his family. And one of his great great grandfathers was Augustus (1st Emperor), Octavia’s brother. Nero killed his mother. She, Agrippina, probably had it coming. She was the sister of Caligula (3rd Emperor), wife of Claudius (4th Emperor and her uncle) and mother of Nero (5th Emperor). The mother probably poisoned Claudius, so that her son, Nero, could become Emperor at age 17. (Nero was the adopted son of Claudius, as well as his great nephew.) Agrippina herself was killed (beaten to death by an assasin) in 59. What goes around, comes around. The verdict on whether Nero set fire to Rome as a large urban renewal project is unclear. He did organize vast relief efforts using his own funds. But he also blamed the Christians for the fire when the populace began to suspect him. Nero did not fiddle while Rome burned. There were no violins (although he did play the lyre). Nero killed himself at age 30. His inattention to important political matters, his self-indulgence and his gene pool had caught up with him.
“At one point, [Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex] Kozinski offered to loan [attorney Eileen] GilBride his copy of a brief in the case, since she hadn’t brought it to court. When she conceded not being aware of something in the brief, Kozinski closed in: Coming to court without the briefs is ‘poor’ form, he said, ‘but not knowing what’s in the briefs is really worse.'”
As predicted, Nostradamus was born on this date in 1503.
But who could have predicted that December 14th would also be the birthday
… of jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player Clark Terry, 91.
Clark Terry performed with Charlie Barnet (1947) and in Count Basie’s big band and small groups (1948-51) before beginning an important affiliation with Duke Ellington, which lasted from 1951 to 1959. During this period Terry took part in many of Ellington’s suites and acquired a lasting reputation for his wide range of styles (from swing to hard bop), technical proficiency, and infectious good humor. After leaving Ellington, he became a frequent performer in New York studios and a staff member of NBC; he appeared regularly on the Tonight Show, where his unique “mumbling” scat singing became famous.
Best actress Oscar nominee for Days of Wine and Roses, Lee Remick was born on this date in 1935. She is often remembered too for her performance in the classic film Anatomy of a Murder. Miss Remick died of cancer in 1991.
Don Hewitt, the long-time producer of 60 Minutes was born on this date in 1922. He died in 2009.
Hewitt worked as a copyboy for a New York newspaper for 15 dollars a week, then got a job with a photo agency, and then got hired away by CBS radio — since he had experience with pictures and visual layout — to help produce the new television news programming that the network was trying to launch. It was all brand-new in the 1940s, and Hewitt remembers asking them “What-avision?” He went down to Grand Central Terminal in New York and up to the top floor to take a look at these “little pictures in a box” of which people spoke. He later reminisced, “They also had cameras and lights and makeup artists and stage managers and microphone booms just like in the movies, and I was hooked.” That year, in 1948, he began producing and directing an evening news broadcast for CBS, and he would later become the executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.
On September 24, 1968 Don Hewitt launched his investigative news magazine, 60 Minutes.
Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, was born on this date in 1939. Davis played for Syracuse — he was on their undefeated National Championship team as a sophomore in 1959 — and wore the same number as Jim Brown, 44. He was the number one pick in the 1962 NFL draft, selected by the Washington franchise. Davis was the first African-American drafted by the Washington team, and then only under pressure from Stewart Udall who, as Secretary of the Interior, controlled the stadium where the team played. Davis refused to play for Washington, hence the trade to Cleveland. During the summer of 1962 Davis was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia; he died the following May.
Charlie Rich was born on December 14 in 1932. He is remembered best for his hits, “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Most Beautiful Girl.”
Spike Jones was born 100 years ago today as Lindley Armstrong Jones. With his band, the City Slickers, Jones was the known for his satires, most notably “Der Fuehrer’s Face”, “Cocktails for Two” and, of course, “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,” number one in 1948.
Frances Bavier was born on this date in 1902. You know, Aunt Bee. She won an Emmy for the role.
Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was the first woman elected to both the House and the Senate and the first whose name was put in nomination for president at a major party convention (Republican 1964).
Congressional Medal of Honor winner Jimmy Doolittle was born on this date in 1896. Doolittle led the daring bombing raid on Tokyo in April 1942. Sixteen B-25s from the U.S.S. Hornet did little damage, but the attack on the Japanese homeland was a major public relations and morale-boosting effort for U.S. forces just five months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
George Washington died at his Mount Vernon home on this date in 1799 at the age of 67. According to the Library of Congress, his last words reportedly were: “I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last long.”
100 years ago today Roald Amundsen, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting became the first individuals to reach the South Pole. See the NOAA South Pole Live Camera. Bustling place. It looks like they’ll be building a mall there soon.
It’s been 39 years to the day since man last walked on the Moon. Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last, Apollo 17.
And it’s the birthday of Veronica. Happy Birthday, Veronica.
… of former Secretary of State George Schultz. He is 91 today.
… of Dick Van Dyke. Rob Petrie is 86. Nine Emmy nominations, four wins.
… of Christopher Plummer. Captain Georg von Trapp is 82. More recently Plummer has been in A Beautiful Mind, Syriana, The Lake House and the voice of the bad guy in Up. Six films in 2005, a couple more in 2006, four in 2007, three more in 2008, seven in 2009 counting voice-overs, and Oscar nomination for The Last Station in 2010. Keep up the good work, young man.
… of Ferguson Jenkins. The baseball hall-of-famer is 68.
Canada’s first Hall of Fame member, Fergie Jenkins used pinpoint control and effectively changed speeds to win 284 games. Cast in the same mold as finesse artists like Catfish Hunter and Robin Roberts, Jenkins forged an impressive 3.34 ERA despite playing 12 of his 19 seasons in hitters’ ballparks – Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. A diligent workhorse, Jenkins used an easy, uncomplicated motion to reach the 20-win mark seven times and capture the National League Cy Young Award in 1971.
… of Ben Bernanke. The chairman of the Federal Reserve is 58.
… of Steve Buscemi. The actor who portrayed the creepy Tony Blundetto (Tony Soprano’s cousin) and the even creepier Carl Showalter in Fargo is 54.
… of Johnny Whitaker. That would be Buffy’s brother Jody on Family Affair. He’s 52. Kathy Garver, the actress who played his older sister Cissy on that show, is 66 today.
… of coaches and twin brothers Rex and Rob Ryan. They are 98 today.
… of sportscaster Mike Tirico, 45 today.
… of Jamie Foxx. The Oscar-winner is 44.
… of Nebraska football coach Bo Pelini, also 44 today.
… of Taylor Swift, 22.
Mary Ann Todd was born on this date in 1818. After she married in 1842, she was Mary Todd Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln had four sons; three died at ages 3 (1850), 11 (1862) and 18 (1871). Her husband was murdered while sitting next to her. By 1875 she was committed to a mental institution due to her grief and erratic behavior, and though released in 1876, her relationship with son Robert (by then an attorney in his thirties) was estranged. Mary Todd Lincoln died in 1882, age 63.
In addition to Frank Sinatra (1915) and Edvard Munch (1863), today is the birthday
… of Bob Barker. C’mon down, he’s 88.
… of Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bob Pettit. He is 79. He was NBA MVP four times.
… of Connie Francis. Do you suppose she’s still trying to get to where the boys are at 73?
… of Dionne Warwick. Perhaps she’d just as soon walk on by her 71st birthday.
… of Dickey Betts. The member of the Allman Brothers band is 68.
… of two-time Indy winner, Formula One and CART champion Emerson Fittipaldi. The Brazilian driver now spends most of his time in the fast lane with his right blinker on at age 65.
… of Cathy Rigby. The Olympic gymnast (1968, 1972) is 59.
… of Tracy Austin. The one-time tennis prodigy at 16 is now 49.
… of Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly. She’s 41.
… of Edward G. Robinson, born on this date in 1893. The actor, born Emanuel Goldenberg in Bucharest, Romania, was known primarily for portraying gangsters such as Rico in Little Caesar and Rocco in Key Largo. AFI considered him one of the greatest male stars of the 20th century. I saw him playing baccarat in Las Vegas in the mid-60s. His stack was $500 bills. (Bills larger than $100 were last printed in 1945 and withdrawn from circulation beginning in 1969.)
William Lloyd Garrison was born on this date in 1805. Garrison was the editor of The Liberator, the most prominent abolitionist newspaper, and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
John Jay by Gilbert Stuart
John Jay was born on this date in 1745. Jay, a delegate from New York, served in the First and Second Continental Congresses. During the War for Independence Jay served as president of the Continental Congress, minister plenipotentiary to Spain, and peace commissioner (in which he negotiated vital treaties with Spain and France). He was Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation. During the ratification of the Constitution, Jay was author of the Federalist Papers, along with Madison and Hamilton. He was the first Chief Justice of the United States. While Chief Justice, Jay negotiated a vital, though flawed treaty with Great Britain in 1794, the Jay Treaty. I guess he qualifies as a Founding Father.
Widely held to be the greatest singer in American pop history and one of the most successful entertainers of the 20th century, Sinatra was also the first modern pop superstar. He defined that role in the early 1940’s when his first solo appearances provoked the kind of mass pandemonium that later greeted Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
During a show business career that spanned more than 50 years and comprised recordings, film and television as well as countless performances in nightclubs, concert halls and sports arenas, Sinatra stood as a singular mirror of the American psyche.
His evolution from the idealistic crooner of the early 1940’s to the sophisticated swinger of the 50’s and 60’s seemed to personify the country’s loss of innocence.
Melvil Dewey was born on December 10th in 1851. You know — Dewey, as in Dewey decimal system.
Dr. Dewey had a passion for efficiency, for time and labor saving methods. He was born at Adams Centre, Jefferson County, N.Y. on Dec. 10, 1851. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1874 and received a Master’s degree there in 1877. While in college he was honorary assistant in the library, desiring to learn its technique. He decided that much could be done in education by building up the library systems and set about to apply his ideas. The college library drifted into his management, and at the end of his junior year he was asked by the trustees to become acting librarian.
It was here that he developed the system of classifying and cataloguing books by decimal numbers, a system now known by his name and used in practically all libraries in this country.
Emily Dickinson selected her own society, and it was rarely that of other people. She preferred the solitude of her white-washed poet’s room, or the birds, bees, and flowers of her garden to the visitations of family and friends. But for three occasions in her life she never left her native Amherst, MA; for the last twenty of her fifty-six years, she rarely left her house. And yet her reclusive existence in no way restricted her abundant life of the imagination. Her letters and poems, all except seven published posthumously, revealed her to be an inspired visionary and true original of American literature.
Dick Bavetta is 72 today. He is a referee in the NBA. Still.
Tommy Kirk is 70 today. Kirk was in Disney films Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson and The Absent-Minded Professor. Kirk was fired by Walt Disney personally in 1963 when it was learned he was gay (and having sex with a minor).
Susan Dey of “The Partridge Family” is 59.
Rod Blagojevich is 55 today.
Four-time Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh is 51. Branagh has been nominated for adapted screenplay (Hamlet), best short film, best actor and best director.
Summer Phoenix (born Summer Joy Bottom) is 33 today. Her siblings are River (died 1993), Rain, Joaquin and Liberty. Her husband is Casey Affleck.
“Hoss” Cartwright was born 83 years ago today. That’s the actor Dan Blocker. Blocker was a west Texas boy, a teacher and coach at Carlsbad, New Mexico’s Eddy School among other places, before getting into acting. Hoss’s given name on Bonanza was Eric. Blocker, who weighed around 300 pounds, died in 1972 at age 43.
Philip Hart was born 99 years ago today. Hart was United States Senator from Michigan 1959-1976. The third of the three Senate office buildings is named for him — the vote to do so was 99-0. He died shortly after.
Chet Huntley was born 100 years ago today. After proving a popular success at the 1956 political conventions, the team of Huntley (from New York) and David Brinkley (from Washington) anchored the NBC evening news program. Huntley left the show in 1970. He died in 1974. “Good night, Chet” — “Good night, David — “and good night for NBC News.”
And happy birthday to my brother-in-law Ken (KenB on these pages). That’s a book he wrote below. Best wishes, Bro.
