Sunday, January 27, 2013

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Patton Oswalt (actor-comedian, The King Of Queens) (44)
• Alan Cumming (actor, GoldenEye, Eyes Wide Shut, the Spy Kids movies, X2's Nightcrawler) (48)
• Bridget Fonda (actress, Single White Female, Singles, Jackie Brown, daughter of Peter Fonda, niece of Jane Fonda) (49)
• Mimi Rogers (actress, Someone To Watch Over Me, The Doors, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd; former wife of Tom Cruise) (57)
• James Cromwell (actor, All In The Family, the Babe movies, L.A. Confidential, The Green Mile, The Queen, American Horror Story: Asylum, Space Cowboys, The Sum Of All Fears, The Artist) (73)
• Keith Olbermann (MSNBC anchor, former host, Countdown with Keith Olbermann) (54)
• G.E. Smith (former musical director of the Saturday Night Live band) (61)
• Nick Mason (drummer, Pink Floyd) (69)
• Frank Miller (comics and graphic novel writer, The Dark Knight Returns, Daredevil, Ronin; director, The Spirit) (56)
• John G. Roberts (current Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) (58)
• Rosamund Pike (actress, Pride and Prejudice, Die Another Day, Barney's Version, Jack Reacher) (34)
• Mike Patton (singer, Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk) (45)
• Janick Gers (guitarist, Iron Maiden) (56)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1756 Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born. He died in 1791 at age 35.
• 1832 Author Lewis Carroll (Alice In Wonderland) was born. He died in 1898.
• 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.
• 1921 Actress Donna Reed (The Picture Of Dorian Gray, It's A Wonderful Life, From Here To Eternity, The Donna Reed Show, Dallas) was born. She died in 1986.
• 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau inPoland.
• 1956 "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley is released.
• 1967 A fire swept through the Apollo 1 rocket at Cape Canaveral in Florida, killing astronauts Gus Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee, and Edward H. White II.
• 1968 "She's A Rainbow" by the Rolling Stones peaked at Number 25 on the pop chart.
• 1971 David Bowie arrived in the U.S. for the first time. While he didn't perform, Bowie did receive a lot of publicity for wearing dresses inTexas andLouisiana.
• 1974 The Ramones hold their first rehearsal.
• 1976, The Happy Days spin-off Laverne & Shirley debuted on ABC.
• 1984 The members of Kiss receive their gold records for the Lick It Up album at a concert at the Long Beach Arena inLong Beach,California.
• 1990 "Downtown Train" by Rod Stewart peaks at Number Three on the pop chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1990 "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty peaks at Number Seven on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1990 Motley Crue's "Kickstart My Heart" peaks at Number 27 on the pop singles chart.
• 1992, Aileen Wuornos, a Florida highway prostitute and subject of the film Monster, was convicted of slaying the first of seven men she admitted killing, claiming self-defense.
• 1993, Professional wrestler and actor Andre The Giant (The Princess Bride) died at age 46.
• 1994 Oasis makes itsLondon debut at the Water Rats in Kings Cross. More than 200 people are turned away from the packed club.
• 1994, figure skater Tonya Harding appeared before reporters, saying she had no prior knowledge of the attack on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan, planned by her husband, but that she had failed to report things she found out about the assault after it happened.
• 1995 Dumb And Dumber, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, opens in movie theatres.
• 1997 Prodigy releases its "Firestarter" single.
• 1997 The Smashing Pumpkins' double album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness is certified platinum eight times over.
• 1998 Pearl Jam releases its fifth album, titled Yield.
• 1998, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared on NBC's Today show and said the Monica Lewinsky allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
• 1999 Paul's Boutique, the second album from the Beastie Boys, is certified double platinum, while Radiohead's second disc, The Bends, is certified platinum.
• 2001 Limp Bizkit pulls out ofAustralia's Big Day Out festival after a fan suffers a heart attack while being crushed by the crowd at the previous day's show inSydney.
• 2004 The Red Hot Chili Peppers sell 200,000 tickets for four summer stadium shows in theU.K., selling out the gigs in a record time of four hours.
• 2005 Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash, singer Courtney Love, and ex-Alice In Chains axeman Jerry Cantrell are among the artists on hand for a benefit concert by "cover band" Camp Freddy in Los Angeles, which raises money for tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia.
• 2006 Live Freaky, Die Freaky, a bizarre animated film starring the voice of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, plus members of A.F.I.. Rancid, Good Charlotte, Blink-182 and others, makes its big screen debut with midnight screenings around the country.