Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov

Born Peter Alexander Ustinov
16 April 1921(1921-04-16)
London, England
Died 28 March 2004 (aged 82)
Genolier, Vaud, Switzerland

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Charlie Chaplin (1889)

Chaplin was one of the most creative personalities in the silent film era: he acted in, directed, scripted, produced, and eventually scored his own films. Merging physical grace and disrespect for authority, he created a signature character, the Little Tramp, who wore a gentlemen's derby, carried a cane, and sported a toothbrush mustache. The Little Tramp's baggy trousers and oversized shoes contributed to his unique, bow-legged dance-walk.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Larry Walters, Lawn Chair Pilot (1949)

Larry Walters, or Lawnchair Larry, was an American adventurer who constructed a homemade aircraft out of a patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons and lifted off from his girlfriend's backyard in July 1982. He quickly rose to an unexpected height of 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) and drifted toward Long Beach Airport, where passing airplane pilots reported him to the control tower. Asked by a reporter why he did it, he replied, "A man can't just sit around."

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Muhammad (570?)

According to Islamic tradition, Muhammad received his first divine revelation at the age of 40. The Qur'an, the sacred book of Islam, records many of the revelations Muhammad received as the final prophet of God. Included among Muhammad's fundamental teachings are the ideas that there is one God; that people must in all things submit to Him; and that nations have been punished for rejecting God's prophets.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Queen Elizabeth II
(1926–)

Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born April 21, 1926, in London. She was proclaimed queen on February 6, 1952, upon the death of her father, George VI, and crowned on June 2, 1953.

Her husband was created Duke of Edinburgh on the eve of their 1947 wedding and styled Prince Philip in 1957. They have three sons, Charles Philip Arthur George ( b. Nov. 14, 1948), Andrew Albert Christian Edward (b. Feb. 19, 1960), and Edward Anthony Richard Louis (b. March 10, 1964), and a daughter Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise (b. Aug. 15, 1950).

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

Anthony Quinn (1915)

Quinn was a Mexican-American painter, writer, and Oscar-winning actor. Quinn boxed in his youth and studied art and architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright. He later turned to acting and achieved international stardom in the 1950s and 60s for his ability to portray ethnically diverse characters, most notably Zorba the Greek. He fathered 12 children and wrote two memoirs, and his paintings have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Oliver Cromwell (1599)

Cromwell, a highly controversial figure in English history, was the Puritan leader of the parliamentary forces that battled the Royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of Charles I in 1649, Cromwell became Lord Protector and virtual dictator of England. He inherited a divided and war-weary nation, to which he forcibly united Scotland and Ireland for the first time

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Dale Earnhardt (1951–2001)

Auto racer. Born Ralph Dale Earnhardt, on April 29, 1951, in Kannapolis, North Carolina. His father, Ralph Earnhardt, was a well-known racecar driver, and Dale Earnhardt began racing himself on the local tracks at the age of 15. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade to race full-time and work as a mechanic. In 1973, Ralph Earnhardt died of a heart attack at the racetrack while working on his car. Two years later, in May 1975, his son made his own stock car racing debut, finishing 22nd in the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

DALE EARNHARDT

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BETTER THE WORLD ~ PAY IT FORWARD
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Duke Ellington (1899)

Duke Ellington was an American jazz musician and composer. Among his best-known short works are "Mood Indigo," "Solitude," and "Sophisticated Lady." He also wrote jazz works of complex orchestration for concert presentation and composed religious music, including three sacred concerts. Ellington toured Europe extensively, appeared in numerous jazz festivals and several films, and made hundreds of recordings.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Willie (Hugh) Nelson (1933 - )

Singer, songwriter, actor, and philanthropist. Born on April 30, 1933, in Abbott, Texas. During his long career, Willie Nelson has written more than 2,500 songs and has released close to 300 albums. He and his older sister Bobbie were raised by his paternal grandparents.

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BETTER THE WORLD ~ PAY IT FORWARD
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Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893)

Joachim von Ribbentrop was the foreign minister of Nazi Germany from 1938 until 1945, during which time he helped negotiate the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939. Having played a role in persuading the leaders of satellite countries of the Third Reich to deport Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II, Ribbentrop was found guilty of war crimes by the military tribunal at Nuremberg and hanged in 1946.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Jack (Harold) Paar (1918 - 2004)

(born May 1, 1918, Canton, Ohio, U.S.—died Jan. 27, 2004, Greenwich, Conn.) U.S. television talk-show host. He worked in radio in the late 1940s before hosting his first television show, Up to Paar, in 1952. As host of the late-night talk show Tonight, renamed The Jack Paar Show (1957–62), he established the now-standard format of celebrity interviews, monologues, and variety skits and was noted for his witty conversation, high-strung mannerisms, and mercurial temper. He later hosted the weekly Jack Paar Program (1962–65).

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BETTER THE WORLD ~ PAY IT FORWARD
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Theodor Herzl (1860)

Herzl was the founder of modern Zionism. A journalist, he was sent to Paris to report on the Dreyfus Affair and was appalled by the vicious anti-Semitism he observed. Concluding that Jewish assimilation in Europe was impossible and that the only solution to the Jewish problem was the establishment of a Jewish national state, Herzl organized the first Zionist World Congress.

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Pete(r) Seeger (1919–)

Folksinger and songwriter, born in New York City, New York, USA. As a son of Charles Seeger, the musicologist, and stepson of Ruth Crawford-Seeger, the composer, he was raised in a home devoted to American folk music. He studied sociology at Harvard (1936–8) but left to pursue his interest in singing and painting. Influenced by Leadbelly and Woody Guthrie, he formed (with Guthrie) the Almanac Singers (1941), one of the first such groups to give voice to social issues. In 1949 he joined the Weavers, the first commercially successful folk music group; although it had formally separated by c.1960, it occasionally regrouped for special concerts. He performed for the civil-rights and anti-war movements of the 1950s and 1960s (and at one point fell foul of the US government for his anti-war actions). His best-known original is ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone?’ (1961). By the 1980s he was lending his voice and reputation to the environmental movement. In addition to performing he wrote scholarly articles on folk music.

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BETTER THE WORLD ~ PAY IT FORWARD
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Famous Birthdays on this Day

612 - Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor (d. 641)
1415 - Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1495)
1428 - Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (d. 1495)
1446 - Margaretha, English princess/duchess of Bourgondie
1446 - Margaret of York, wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1503)
1469 - Niccolo Machiavelli, Italy, politician/writer (Prince)
1514 - Bartholomaeus a Martyribus, [Fernandez], primate of Portugal
1535 - Alessandro "Agnolo" Allori, Italian painter/carpet designer
1647 - John A "Joannes" Antonides van der Goes, poet (Bellone aen bant)
1649 - Johann Valentin Meder, composer
1662 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (d. 1736)
1692 - Jan J Mauricius, Dutch governor-general of Suriname (1742-51)
1695 - Henri Pitot, Italian-born French engineer (d. 1771)
1708 - Johann Adolph Scheibe, German music theroist/composer
1713 - Alexis Clairault, French mathematician (d. 1765)
1729 - Florian Leopold Gassmann, composer
1737 - Friedrich Schwindl, composer
1742 - Jean-Baptiste Krumphultz, composer
1744 - Freidrich Wilhelm Weis, composer
1752 - Braz Francisco de Lima, composer
1761 - August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819)
1764 - Elisabeth PMH, princess of France/son of king Louis XVI
1768 - Charles Tennant, Scottish chemist and industrialist (d. 1838)
1773 - Giuseppe Acerbi, Italian traveller/nature investigator/diplomat
1815 - Hermanus W Witteveen, Dutch theologist
1816 - Montgomery Cunningham Meigs, Bvt Mjr Gen (Union Army), died in 1892
1819 - Nicola De Giosa, composer
1826 - Charles XV Louis E, King of Sweden/Norway (1859-72)/poet
1844 - Edouard A Drumont, French anti-semitic journalist
1844 - Richard D'Oyly Carte, England, opera impresario (Ivanhoe)
1849 - Jacob Riis, Denmark, reporter (NY Tribune, NY Evening Sun)
1849 - Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
1857 - George Gore, American baseball player (d. 1933)
1859 - Andy Adams, US writer (Log of a Cowboy)
1860 - John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist (d. 1936)
1860 - Vito Volterra, Italian mathematician (d. 1940)
1861 - Emmett Dalton, American outlaw (d. 1937)
1867 - Jack Hearne, cricketer (cousin of George & Alec 12 Tests for Eng)
1870 - Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1948)
1873 - Nikolay N Tcherepnin, St Petersburg, composer of ballets, songs [OS]
1873 - [Nicoline] Magdalene Anchor-Roll, Norwegian author (Kvinnen og Den)
1873 - Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian general (d. 1945)
1874 - Francois Coty, Corsica, Corsican senator/perfume maker
1874 - V. Walfrid Ekman, Swedish oceanographer (d. 1954)
1876 - Bert Hopkins, cricketer (Australian pace bowler of the 1900's)
1876 - John Elicius Benedict B P Quick Carrington Dwyer, cricketer (Sussex)
1877 - Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (d. 1925)
1879 - Fergus McMaster, Australian businessman (d. 1950)
1886 - Marcel Dupré, French organist and composer (d. 1971)
1888 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
1890 - B Traven, writer
1891 - Tadeusz Peiper, Polish poet (d. 1969)
1892 - Beulah Bondi, Chicago, actress (It's a Wonderful Life)
1892 - George Thomson, demonstrated electron diffraction (Nobel 1937)
1893 - Hope Landin, Minneapolis MN
1893 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (d. 1975)
1895 - Earnest Kantorowicz, German/US historian (Laudes regiae)
1895 - Zoltan Korda, Hungarian/British director (Jungle Book, 4 Feathers)
1895 - Cornelius Van Til, philosopher and Christian apologist (d. 1987)
1896 - Dodie Smith, English novelist and playwright (d. 1990)
1896 - Karl Allmenroder, German World War I Ace (d. 1917)
1897 - V K Krishna Menon, India, minister of defense
1898 - Golda Meir, [Meyerson], Kiev Ukraine, 4th Israeli PM (1969-74)
1898 - Septima Poinsette Clark, civil rights activist/educator
1899 - Aline MacMahon, McKeesport Pa, actress (Backdoor to Heaven)
1901 - Gino Cervi, Bologna Italy, actor (Les Miserables, Naked Maja)
1902 - Hugo Friedhofer, composer
1902 - Jack Larue, NYC, actor (Lights Out, Mouthpiece, My Favorite Brunette)
1902 - Seton I Miller, Chehalis WA, writer (Pete's Dragon, Istanbul)
1902 - Walter Slezak, Vienna, actor (Bedtime for Bonzo, Inspector General)
1903 - Bing Crosby, Tacoma Wash, singer (White Christmas, Going My Way)
1904 - Charles "Red" Ruffing, NY Yankee pitcher, hitter (1930-46)
1904 - John Breeden, SF CA, actor (Salute, Madame Racketeer, Joy Street)
1905 - Albrecht Luitpold G Ferdinand Michael Wittelsbach, duke of Bavaria
1905 - Sebastian Lewis Shaw, actor (High Season, Ace of Spades, Caste)
1906 - Mary Astor, Quincy IL, actress (Maltese Falcon, Dinky)
1907 - Earl Wilson, Rockford Ohio, columnist (Midnight Earl)
1910 - Alceo Galliera, composer
1910 - Norman Corwin, American radio pioneer
1911 - John Rhea "Yank" Lawson, trumpeter
1912 - Virgil Fox, American organist (d. 1980)
1913 - Earl Blackwell, Atlanta Ga, author (Celebrity Register)
1913 - William M Inge, US playwright (Picnic-Pulitzer 1953)
1915 - Evencio Castellanos, composer
1915 - Stu Hart, Canadian professional wrestler and trainer (d. 2003)
1916 - Henry Barbosa Gonzalez, San Antonio Tx, (Rep-D-Tx, 1961- )
1916 - Pierre Emmanuel, French poet (Sodome)
1916 - Léopold Simoneau, French Canadian tenor (d. 2006)
1917 - James Penberthy, composer
1917 - Betty Comden, American lyricist (d. 2006)
1918 - Ted Bates, English former footballer (d. 2003)
1919 - Betty Comden, Bkln, song writer (Comden & Green-Bells are Ringing)
1919 - Pete Seeger, NYC, folk singer (Weaver, Goodnight Irene)
1919 - John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist (d. 2004)
1920 - Sugar Ray Robinson, [Walter Smith], middle/welterweight boxer (champ)
1921 - Vasco dos Santos Goncalves, Portuguese leftist colonel
1921 - Joe Ames, American singer (d. 2007)
1922 - Marina Svetlova, ballerina/choreographer (Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo)
1922 - Len Shackleton, English former footballer (d. 2000)
1923 - Ralph M Hall, (Rep-D-TX, 1981- )
1923 - George Hadjinikos, Greek pianist and conductor
1924 - Mary Carver, LA Calif, actress (Cecilia-Simon & Simon)
1924 - Yehuda Amichai, Israeli poet (d. 2000)
1924 - Ken Tyrrell, English founder of eponymous F1 racing team (d. 2001)
1925 - Nina Bara, Buenos Aires Arg, actress (Tonga-Space Patrol)
1928 - James Brown, Augusta Ga, singer/jail bird, soul brother #1 (Hot Pants)
1928 - Jeanne Bal, Santa Monica Calif, actress (Pat-Love & Marriage)
1929 - Hendrik L van Beek, Dutch vice-admiral
1929 - Jaharna Imam, Bangladeshi writer/political activist
1930 - David Evatt Tunley, composer
1931 - Joseph Lichtman Layton, dancer
1932 - Robert Osborne, American film historian
1933 - Collie Smith, cricketer (exciting WI all-rounder all too briefly)
1933 - James Brown, American singer and dancer (d. 2006)
1933 - Alex Cord, American actor
1934 - Georg Kroll, composer
1934 - Henry Cooper, English boxer
1934 - Frankie Valli, American singer (The Four Seasons)
1935 - Donald P Hodel, Portland Ore, US Secretary of Interior (1985-89)
1935 - Ron Popeil, American inventor
1936 - Engelbert Humperdinck, [Arnolde Dorsey], India, singer (EH Show)
1937 - Frankie Valli, [Castelluccio], Newark NJ, singer (Four Seasons-Sherry)
1937 - Nélida Piñon, Brazilian writer
1938 - Chris Cannizzaro, American baseball player
1939 - Jonathan David Harvey, English composer (Bhakti, Music of Stockhausen)
1939 - Jose Torres, US, boxer (Olympics)
1939 - Samantha Eggar, London England, actress (Collector)
1940 - Konrad "Conny" Plank, German record producer and musician
1940 - Clemens Westerhof, Dutch football manager
1941 - Nona Gaprindasvili, USSR, world women's chess champ (1962-78)
1941 - Edward "Monk" Malloy, American university president
1942 - Lynn Farleigh, Bristol England, actress (Lovers of Their Time)
1942 - Věra Čáslavská, Czech gymnast
1942 - Dave Marash, American journalist
1942 - C.L. Otter, American politician, governor of Idaho
1943 - John Costello, historian
1944 - Ian Peter Leslie Smith, journalist
1944 - Peter Staples, rocker (Troggs-Wild Thing)
1945 - Sadiq Mohammad, cricketer (attacking Pakistan opening batsman 1969-81)
1946 - Greg Gumbel, sportscaster (CBS TV, WFAN)
1946 - Norm Chow, American football coach
1947 - Doug Henning, Ft Garry Manitoba, magician (Broadway play-Magic)
1948 - Chris Mulkey, American actor
1949 - Albert Sacco Jr, Boston Mass, PhD/astronaut (STS 73)
1949 - Ron Wyden, (Rep-D-OR, 1981- )
1950 - Mary Hopkin, South Wales, singer (Those Were the Days)
1951 - Christopher Cross, [Geppert], Texas, singer (Sailing, Arthur's Theme)
1951 - Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian writer
1952 - Allen Wells, England, 100m dash (Olympic-gold-1980)
1952 - Caitlin Clarke. American actress (d. 2004)
1953 - Bruce Hall, Champaign Ill, rock bassist (Reo Speedwagon)
1953 - Van McLain, rocker (Shooting Star)
1954 - Gary Young, American drummer (Pavement)
1955 - David Hookes, cricketer (dashing Australian LHB, S Aussie stalwart)
1955 - Steve Jones, English pop guitarist (Sex Pistols-Mercy)
1955 - Timmy Cappello, rock & sax player (played with Tina Turner, Ringo Starr & The Lost Boys)
1956 - Marc Bellemare, French Canadian lawyer and politician
1957 - Cactus Moser, Montrose Co, country singer (Highway 101-Cry Cry Cry)
1957 - Rod Langway, Formosa, NHL defenseman (Mont Canadiens, Wash Caps)
1958 - Kevin Kilner, American actor
1958 - Sandi Toksvig, Danish comedian and radio presenter
1959 - Ben Elton, London UK, actor (Stark, Friday Night Live)
1959 - David Ball, Blackpool, rock keyboardist (Soft Cell)
1959 - Uma Bharati, Indian politician
1959 - Ben Elton, British comedian and author
1960 - Amy Steel, American actress
1961 - Steve McClaren, English football manager
1961 - Joe Murray, American cartoonist
1961 - David Vitter American politician
1962 - Anthony Gilligan, Penrith NSW, Australasia golfer
1962 - Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
1963 - Jeff Hornacek, NBA guard (Utah Jazz)
1963 - Jamie Reeves, British strongman
1963 - Sally Whittaker, English actress
1964 - Ron Hextall, Winnipeg, NHL goalie (Phila Flyers, NY Islanders)
1965 - Rob Brydon, Welsh comedian
1965 - Nina Garcia, Colombian-American fashion expert and television personality
1965 - John Jensen, Danish footballer
1966 - Paul Stevenson, Victoria Australia, badminton player (Olympics-96)
1966 - Peter Abbay, American actor
1966 - Firdous Bamji, Indian-American actor
1966 - Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player
1968 - Deborah Caprioglio, Miestre Italy, actress (Big Game Hunter)
1968 - Jay Darlington, London England, keyboardist (Kula Shaker)
1968 - Shane Minor, American singer
1969 - Karen Kraft, San Mateo Calif, rower (Olympics-silver-96)
1969 - Daryl F. Mallett, American writer/editor
1970 - Alexia Dechaume-Ballert, La Rochelle France, tennis star (1992 Aust)
1970 - Ted Crowley, Concord Mass, US hockey defenseman (Olympics-1994)
1971 - James Roberson, defensive end (Tennessee Oilers)
1971 - Damon Dash, American label executive
1971 - Josey Scott, American singer (Saliva)
1972 - Brett Hayman, Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1972 - Josh Taves, defensive end (New England Patriots)
1972 - Vyacheslav Kozlov, Voskresensk Russia, NHL forward (Detroit Red Wings)
1972 - Shonie Carter, American MMA fighter
1972 - Suzi Suzuki, former Japanese adult actress
1973 - Dominique Monami, Verviers Belgium, tennis star
1973 - Michel Traveller, soccer player (Ajax)
1974 - Princess Haya bint Hussein of Jordan
1975 - Maksim Mrvica, Croatian pianist
1975 - Eva Santolaria, Spanish actress
1975 - Dulé Hill, American actor
1976 - Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player
1977 - Mashima Hiro, Japanese Mangaka of Rave Master and Fairy Tail
1977 - Ryan Dempster, American baseball player
1978 - Paul Banks, American vocalist (Interpol)
1978 - Christina Hendricks, American actress
1978 - Lawrence Tynes, American football player
1979 - Steve Mack, American professional wrestler
1980 - Marcel Vigneron, American chef (Top Chef)
1981 - Farrah Franklin, American singer (former member of Destiny's Child)
1982 - Igor Olshansky, Ukrainian-born American football player
1983 - Joseph Addai, American football player
1983 - Romeo Castelen, Dutch footballer
1983 - Márton Fülöp, Hungarian footballer
1983 - Myriam Fares, Lebanese singer
1984 - Cheryl Burke, American professional dancer
1984 - Nam Sang-mi, South Korean actress and model
1985 - Greg Raposo, American pop/rock singer

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LETS BEGIN IN 2010

Impressive Matthew.
Good find.

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With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.