Hayley Mills, You May Now Retire (If You Wish)
Hayley Mills, child star of Pollyanna fame, turns 65 today.
Biographies
How Many Josh Grobans Can You Spot?
Josh Groban poses with his new album, Illuminations, in Dublin yesterday. We count four curly-haired Josh Grobans, but there could be more.See our Josh Groban biography >>
Dusty Springfield’s Groovy Video
Today would have been the birthday of Dusty Springfield, who died in 1999 at the age of 59. The singer’s real name was Mary O’Brien. Here she is singing her biggest hit, “Son of a Preacher Man.”
Check out those groovy hand motions.
Apollo 13 Drama in 1970
On this day back in 1970, Americans were sitting around their televisions and radios wondering what was going to happen to the astronauts aboard Apollo 13.
The day before, on April 13th, an explosion aboard the spacecraft threw everything off. As we now know (because of reality and the 1995 Ron Howard film), the astronauts made it home safely, thanks to the power in the lunar module, some duct tape and the smarts of them fellers what could still worry a slide rule.
Happy Birthday to Jack Chick
Yes, it’s the birthday of comic artist and Christian ink-warrior Jack Chick, the mysterious creator of religious comics such as The Wall and Li’l Susy and The Great Escape!.
For your pleasure, here’s a computer animated version of Jack Chick’s 1978 classic, The Sissy.
In The Sissy a couple of unenlightened truckers get the message that Jesus was no wimp. And when Jesus comes back, he’s going to unleash some righteous clobberin’.
Yuri Gagarin the Queen Toucher
A new biography of Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin says the first man in space violated British royal protocol during his visit to England in 1961.
The Guardian has the story that biographer Lev Danilkin claims Yuri Gagarin touched Queen Elizabeth’s knee during breakfast at Buckingham Palace.
Well, honestly, who hasn’t done that? I think it was part of the tour up until about 2003.
Poyekhali Plus 50: A Doodle for Yuri Gagarin
Call him Yuri Googarin. Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin has been rightly saluted with a Google doodle on the 50th anniversary of the day he became the first human in space. (Google founder Sergey Br
Mitt Romney’s Hat Almost In Ring
Former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced today that he’s decisively almost to the point of running for the office of U.S. president again.
President Harry Truman Fires General Douglas MacArthur
Today in 1951 United States President Harry S. Truman fired General Douglas MacArthur and relieved him of command of all U.S. forces in Korea.
There was a “police action” going on at the time, which is to say a war.
Sidney Lumet: A Few Fond Thoughts
Sidney Lumet has died at age 86. The director of Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and 12 Angry Men passed away of lymphoma at his home in New York.A few thoughts about Sidney Lumet from the back row: