April 6th and all that

I share my birthday with...

  • Zach Braff [1975] - star of my favourite US TV comedy show, the peerless "Scrubs"
  • Paul Daniels [1938] - top UK magician/illusionist
  • Gordon Giltrap [1948] - guitarist and singer/songwriter
  • Marilu Henner [1952] - one of the stars of the classic 1970s US sitcom "Taxi"
  • Gerry Mulligan [1927] - great baritone sax player
  • Ian Paisley [1926] - head of the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland
  • Max Clifford [1943] - PR guru to the rich, the famous and those about to be
  • Peter Van Hooke [1950] - drummer, "Mike & The Mechanics" (died also on April 6 1998)
  • Rory Bremner [1961] - ace UK impressionist and satirist
  • Phil Gayle [1964] - TV newsreader, notably on Channel 4's late, lamented "Big Breakfast"
  • Myleene Klass [1978] - Classical musician, radio DJ, former member of pop group "Hear'say"
  • Butch Cassidy [1866] - legendary Wild West figure, partner of the Sundance Kid
  • Roy Thinnes [1938] - TV actor, star of the 60s show "The Invaders"
  • Fabrice Muamba [1988] - Birmingham City footballer (on loan from Arsenal)
  • Sir John Betjeman [1906] - British Poet Laureate
  • James Fox [1976] - "Fame Academy" contestant, later UK Eurovision entry, 2004
  • Jonathan Firth [1967] - actor, brother of Colin
  • Maria Callas [1905] - World-famous opera singer
  • Henry Kissinger [1905] - former US politician and diplomat
  • Chuck Yeager [1905] - US fighter pilot and sound-barrier pioneer
  • Paul Rudd [1969] - US stage, TV and film actor
  • André Previn [1929] - classical conductor, pianist and memorable "Morecambe & Wise" show guest
  • Billy Dee Williams [1937] - played Lando Calrissian in the "Star Wars" movies
  • John Ratzenberger [1947] - played Cliff in "Cheers"
  • Barry Levinson [1942] - Oscar-winning director of the Dustin Hoffman/Tom Cruise film "Rain Man"
  • Merle Haggard [1937] - Country singer/songwriter
  • Harry Houdini [1874] - legendary escapologist and illusionist
  • Raphael [1483] - architect and painter during the Italian Renaissance

Oh, and before I go any further, may I wish you all a very happy...

    Feast Day of
  • St Sixtus
  • St Balderik
  • St Wineboud
  • The Blessed Notker
  • St Elstan
  • St Irenaeus of Sirmium
  • St Celestine I
  • St Marcellinus of Carthage
  • St Prudentius of Troyes
  • St Eutychius of Constantinople
  • St William of Eskilsoè
  • St Brychan, King of Brycheiniog (South Wales)
  • Chakri Day (Thailand)
  • and, of course, Tartan Day (all you ex-pat Scots everywhere)

...and who could ever forget;

  • 1830 - Joseph Smith formed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • 1869 - Celluloid - the first plastic material - invented
  • 1896 - 8 nations fought it out in the first modern Olympic Games in Athens
  • 1909 - Pearey and Henson became the first explorers to reach the North Pole
  • 1917 - The United States enter WW1
  • 1928 - James Watson discovers DNA
  • 1938 - Roy Plunkett of the Du Pont company invented Teflon
  • 1947 - the inaugural Tony Awards ceremony for US theatre took place
  • 1965 - "Early Bird", the first commercial ComSat, was launched
  • 1968 - US race riots begin following the shooting of Martin Luther King
  • 1973 - Pioneer II launched
  • 1974 - Abba win Eurovision with "Waterloo"


  • 1992 - death of one of my favourite sci-fi writers, the great Isaac Asimov
  • The world also lost Igor Stravinsky and Tammy Wynette on this day...

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