A quick look at Today in History, check out some Celebrity Birthdays, and find out what Days of the Year to celebrate.

TODAY IN HISTORY:

1827 – The first school in Grand Rapids, MI was opened. Five Indians and one adult white laborer were the first students. By April, there were 15 students who were fed and clothed by missions.

1867 – The Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad began service between Grand Rapids and Cedar Springs, MI.

1914 – British and German soldiers took a break from fighting during World War I. They gave gifts and played football together.

1930 – The Mt. Van Hoevenberg bobsled run at Lake Placid, NY opened to the public. It was the first bobsled track of international specifications to open in the U.S.

1939 – Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was read on CBS radio for the first time.

1941 – The first public performance of the song “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby on his NBC radio show “The Kraft Music Hall”.

1962 – The movie “To Kill a Mockingbird” premiered in theaters.

1962 – The Department of Commerce Census Clock in Washington, DC, recorded the U.S. population on this day at 188,000,000.

1968 – Apollo 8 performed the very first successful Trans-Earth injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.

1996 – The movie, “The People vs. Larry Flynt”, starring Courtney Love was released.

1998 – Near Hawaii, seven days into their journey, Virgin mogul Richard Branson, Steve Fossett and Per Lindstrand of Sweden gave up an attempt to make the first non-stop round-the-world balloon flight.

2003 – The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe, which was released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19th, stopped transmitting shortly before its scheduled landing.

2004 – The Cassini orbiter released Huygens probe which successfully landed on Saturn’s moon Titan on January 14th, 2005.

2008 – The movie “Marley and Me” premiered in theaters.

2009 – Underwear Bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, attempted to bring down Northwest flight 253 on its way to Detroit, MI. He had plastic explosives sewn into his underwear but failed to deoniate tehem properly. He was restrained by passengers and a fire was put out. He was arrested when the plane landed in Detroit.

2021 – The James Webb Space Telescope was launched.

BIRTHDAYS:

Duane Armstrong – 87 years old (1938) – Painter

Bob James – 86 years old (1939) – Keyboard player, songwriter, and producer

Rick Berman – 80 years old (1945) – Screenwriter and producer

Merry Clayton – 77 years old (1948) – Singer and actress

Kay Hymowitz – 77 years old (1948) – Sociologist and writer

Barbara Mandrell – 77 years old (1948) – Singer-songwriter and actress

Sissy Spacek – 76 years old (1949) – Actress

Karl Rove – 75 years old (1950) – Political strategist and activist

Warren Robinett – 74 years old (1951) – Video game designer

CCH Pounder – 73 years old (1952) – Guyanese-American actress

Cheryl Chase – 67 years old (1958) – Voice actress and singer

Jim Dowd – 57 years old (1968) – Ice hockey player

Rodney Dent – 55 years old (1970) – Basketball player

Mac Powell – 53 years old (1972) – Singer-songwriter and producer

Chris Harris – 52 years old (1973) – Wrestler

Jeremy Strong – 47 years old (1978) – Actor

Marcus Trufant – 45 years old (1980) – Football player

Trenesha Biggers – 44 years old (1981) – Wrestler and model

Camille Herron – 44 years old (1981) – Ultramarathon runner

Shawn Andrews – 43 years old (1982) – Football player

Chris Rene – 43 years old (1982) – Singer-songwriter and producer

Chris Richard – 41 years old (1984) – Basketball player

Rusev – 40 years old (1985) – Bulgarian-American professional wrestler

Eric Gordon – 37 years old (1988) – Basketball player

TODAY IS:

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For additional information check out websites like: www.on-this-day.com, www.born-today.com, www.famousbirthdays.com, www.daysoftheyear.com, and www.nationaldaycalendar.com.