Born on this day – Alan Sharp:

Alan Sharp

Writer

Producer

Director

January 12, 1934 – February 8, 2013

Books:

A Green Tree in Gedde (1985); Lord Dunsany / Dean Spanley: The Novel (2008); Night Moves (1975); The Hired Hand (1971); The Wind Shifts (1967).

Movies and television:

Avenger (2006); Ben Hur (2010); Betrayed by Love (1994); Billy Two Hats (1974); Coming Out of the Ice (1982); Damnation Alley (1977); D-Day: Assault on Fortress Europe (1990); Dean Spanley (2008); Descending Angel (1990); Double Image (1966); First Night (1963); ITV Playhouse (1970); Lathe of Heaven (2002); Little Girl Fly Away (1998); Little Treasure (1985); Love and Lies (1990); Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991); Night Moves (1975); Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006); Our Ladies (2019); Play for Today (1970); Reversible Errors (2004); Rob Roy (1995); Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron (1993); The Edge (1989); The Hired Hand (1971); The Last Hit (1993); The Last Run (1971); The Odd Man (1978); The Osterman Weekend (1983); The Snoop Sisters (1972); The South Bank Show (1979); The Wednesday Play (1965); The Year of Living Dangerously (1982); Ulzana's Raid (1972); Valentino's Ghost (2012); While I Was Gone (2004).

Born on this day – Mitchell Ryan:

Mitchell Ryan

Actor

January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022

Born on this day – Del Shannon:

Del Shannon

Musician

Singer

Songwriter

Actor

December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990

Born on this day – Ed Flanders:

Ed Flanders

Actor

December 29, 1934 – February 22, 1995

Born on this day – Herb Gardner:

Herb Gardner

Writer

Producer

Director

Artist

Cartoonist

December 28, 1934 – September 25, 2003

Born on this day – Christopher Benjamin:

Christopher Benjamin

Actor

December 27, 1934 – January 10, 2025

Credits:

Angel (2007); Angels (1976); Anything More Would Be Greedy (1989); Armchair Theatre (1967); Armchair Thriller (1978); A Gentlemen's Club (1988); A Likely Lad (1992); Ace of Wands (1970); Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round (1998); A Spy at Evening (1981); Baffled (1972); BBC Play of the Month (1968–1971); Between the Wars (1973); Black Silk (1985); Blott on the Landscape (1985); Boon (1987); Bowler (1973); Brass (1990); Brief Encounter (1974); Budgie (1972); Call Me Mister (1986); Campion (1990); Can You Hear the Earth Scream (2006); Casanova (1987); Casualty (1992); Chintz (1981); Churchill's People (1975); Comedy Matinee (1961); Crown Court (1972–1981); Cyrano de Bergerac (1985); Death in the Streets (1970); Dempsey and Makepeace (1986); Detective (1968); Dick Turpin (1979–1982); Doctor Who (1970–1977 / 2008 / 2009); Doctor Who: Short Trips (2017); Doctor Who: Target Novelisation Audiobooks (2013); Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles (2009); Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited (2013); Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures (2008); Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures (2013–2017); Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor - The Last Adventure (2015); Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures (2012); Doctors (2009); Donkeys' Years (1980); Don't Knock Yourself Out (2007); Down to Earth (2004); EastEnders (1999); Father Brown (1974); Feet First (1979); Forget-Me-Not-Lane (1975); Foyle's War (2003); Fraud Squad (1969); Gangsters (1976); Get Some In! (1978); Great Performances (1988); Hadleigh (1976); Haggard (1990); Hard Times (1994); Hawk the Slayer (1980); Heartbeat (2006); Hennes meget kongelige høyhet (1968); Holding On (1977); Holding the Fort (1980–1982); Honour, Profit & Pleasure (1985); Inspector Morse (1992); It Takes a Worried Man (1981–1983); ITV Play of the Week (1965–1966); ITV Playhouse (1968); Jack the Ripper (1973); Jackanory Playhouse (1978); Jago & Litefoot (2010–2021); Jason King (1971); Judge John Deed (2003–2006); King & Castle (1988); Koroshi (1968); Late Night Horror (1968); Leonardo (2003); Little Big Time (1971); London's Burning (1992); Looking for Victoria (2003); Lovejoy (1994); Love's Labour's Lost (1965); Magic Grandad (1994); Maigret (1992); Man at the Top (1971); Melba (1988); Midsomer Murders (2005); Minder (1984); Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle (1977); My Son Reuben (1975); Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width (1971); New Scotland Yard (1973); Orlando (1966); Paul Temple (1970); Play for Today (1980–1981); Poldark (1975–1976); Premiere (1978); Pride and Prejudice (1995); Pride and Prejudice Revisited (2005); 'Pride and Prejudice': The Making of... (1999); Private Affairs (1975); Public Eye (1968); Quick Before They Catch Us (1966); Ramshackle Road (1968); Ring of Bright Water (1969); Rooms (1977); Rosemary & Thyme (2006); Rumpole of the Bailey (1991); Runaway Railway / Junket 89 (1970); Salut champion (1981); Saracen (1989); Scorpion Tales (1978); Secret Agent (1967); Seesaw (1998); Seven Times Seven (1969); Shades of Greene (1976); Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1994); She-Wolf of London (1991); Shine on Harvey Moon (1982); Shoestring (1980); Softly Softly: Task Force (1970–1976); Special Branch (1974); Spy! (1980); Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (1990); Strauss Dynasty (1991); Suspense (1962); Sword of Honour (2001); Target (1977); The Adventures of Black Beauty (1973); The Avengers (1966–1968); The Baron (1966); The Birds Fall Down (1978); The Black Velvet Gown (1991); The Caucasian Chalk Circle (1985); The Devil's Crown (1978); The Diary of Anne Frank (1987); The Diary of River Song (2019); The Double Dealers (1974); The English Programme (1985); The Fellows (1967); The Forsyte Saga (1967); The Fortunes of Nigel (1974); The Gamblers (1967); The Gold Robbers (1969); The History of Mr. Polly (1980); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1976); The Index Has Gone Fishing (1987); The Last Hurrah (2010); The Last Salute (1998); The Legend of Tarzan (2016); The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982); The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999); The Man in Room 17 (1965); The Merry Wives of Windsor (2011); The Onedin Line (1972); The Paternoster Gang (2020); The Plague Dogs (1982); The Prisoner (1967–1968); The Prisoner Video Companion (1990); The Protectors (1972); The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986); The Roads to Freedom (1970); The Saint (1968); The Sandbaggers (1978); The Saturday Play (1998); The Squirrels (1976); The Strauss Family (1972); The Tichborne Claimant (1998); The Tomorrow People (1994); The Villains (1965); The Way We Live Now (1969); The Wednesday Play (1965); The White Rabbit (1967); The Worlds of Doctor Who (2014); Theatre 625 (1967); Theatre Night (1988); Thérèse Raquin (1980); Thirty-Minute Theatre (1967); Thriller (1974); Time Space Visualiser (2020); Treasure Island (1999); Upstairs, Downstairs (1973); Van der Valk (1973); Very Like a Whale (1980); Vienna 1900 (1973); Village Hall (1975); We, the Accused (1980); When the Boat Comes In (1977); Where There's a Will (1989); Whodunnit? (1978); Wilde Alliance (1978); Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981); Yes, Honestly (1977); Yes, Prime Minister (1987); Young Charlie Chaplin (1989); Z Cars (1965).

Born on this day – Aki Aleong:

Aki Aleong

Actor

Producer

Director

December 19, 1934 – June 24, 2025

Credits:

100 Hollywood Stars (2017); A.P.O. 923 (1962); Abduction (2019); Adventures in Paradise (1960); Agents of Secret Stuff (2010); Airwolf (1984); Alien Zombie Cell (2025); As the World Turns (1981–1983); Asian Assassin (2025); Ass Clowns: Constipated (2021); Awaken Young King (date?); Babylon 5 (1994); Bachelor Father (1961); Ben Casey (1961); Beverly Hills Madam (1986); Beverly Hills, 90210 (1994); Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction / Segment: Tribal Curse (1998); Beyond the Game (2016); Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter (2007); Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988); Breaking the Silence (1992); Breaking the Surface: The Greg Louganis Story (1997); Buckskin (1968); Cadillac Respect (2026); Cagney & Lacey (1986); Chicago Hope (2000); China Beach (1990); Chinaman's Chance: America's Other Slaves (2008); City Beat Live (2015); Command & Conquer: Generals (2003); Curb Your Enthusiasm (2001); Dark Avenger (1990); Dark World (2008); Dawna of the Darkness (2019–2021); Deadly Target (1994); Devil's Express (1976); Dr. Kildare (1963); Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993); Dragonfight (1990); Edge (2013); Elephant Stomp (2021); Eye on Entertainment (2013–2021); Farewell to the King (1989); Faster Than the Speed of Light (2015); Fight or Die (2016); Finding Purpose: The Road to Redemption (2019); Fist of Legend (1994); Fist of the Dragon (2014); Fit to Kill (1993); Frame of Mind (2003); From Chile with Love (2025); From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One (1992); Funny Pages (2022); General Electric Theater (1958); General Hospital (1985); Hawaiian Eye (1961); Hazel (1965); Hey Moe, Hey Dad! (2015); Hong Kong (1960–1961); House Arrest (2012); House of Sand and Fog (2003); Hunter (1988); I Spy (1965); I Want Him Dead (2010); IN3DRAGON (2022 / 2025); Internal Affairs (1988); JAG (1996–1997); Jake and the Fatman (1990); Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2007); Jimmy Stomp the Bodyguards (2025); Jugular Wine: A Vampire Odyssey (1994); Kuffs (1992); Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1996); L.A. County 187 (2003); L.A. Heat (1999); L.A. Law (1986); Level 26: Dark Prophecy (2010); Lewis & Clark & George (1997); Lost Warrior: Left Behind (2008); Love Me Like I Do (1970); Mancuso, FBI (1989); Martial Law (1998); Miss America: Behind the Crown (1992); Missing Brendan (2003); MoreHorror in Hollywood (2013); Motorcycle Gang (1957); My Grandpa the Assassin (2025); My Redneck Neighbor: Chapter 1 - The Rednecks Are Coming (2024); My Redneck Neighbor: Chapter 2 - Let the Games Begin (2024); Never So Few (1959); No Down Payment (1957); Operation Bikini (1963); Out for Blood (1992); Over the Brooklyn Bridge (1984); Palace of the Damned (2013); Paranormal Activity Security Squad (2016); Perfect Assassins (1998); Picket Fences (1996); Pound of Flesh (2015); Power Rangers Wild Force (2002); Producers' Showcase (1956); Raven (1993); Reasonable Doubts (1991); Return Of The Prince Of Light (2018); Road to Hell (2017); Robert Montgomery Presents (1957); RoboWoman (2019); Roswell (2002); Sam Benedict (1962); Sarogeto (2021); Savage Dog (2017); Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1986); Sci-Fighter (2004); Scorpion Girl (2017); SeaQuest 2032 (1994); Seven Days (1999); She Always... (2009); Stomp Kid (2025); Street Hawk (1985); Street Justice (1991–1992); Superhero Movie (2008); Suspense (2016); Tales of the Gold Monkey (1983); The Adventures of Umbweki (2009); The Assassin Unleashed (2023); The A-Team (1986); The Brothers Brannagan (1960); The Cable Guy (1996); The Californians (1957); The Case of the Dangerous Robin (1960–1961); The Dark Forest (2014); The Deadly Frontier (2008); The Doctors and the Nurses (1963); The Edge of Night (1983); The Force (1994); The Hanoi Hilton (1987); The Hunters (1958); The Hustle (2008); The Independent (2000); The Islanders (1960–1961); The Jimmy Star Show with Ron Russell (2017); The Leather Man (2025); The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1960); The Making of 'Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story' (1993); The Monkey King's Daughter (2025); The Outer Limits (1963–1964); The Quest (1996); The Seoul Survivor (2016); The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963); The Tycoon (1964); The Universe Multicultural Film Festival in 2018 (2018); The Virginian (1967); The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965–1966); Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997); Tour of Duty (1990); Ultimate Justice (2017); V (1984–1985); Veritas: The Quest (2003); Walker, Texas Ranger (1993); War of the Worlds (1990); You Bet Your Life (1958).

Born on this day – Joan Didion:

Joan Didion

Writer

December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021

Credits:

Run River (1963); Play It As It Lays (1970); A Book of Common Prayer (1977); Democracy (1984); The Last Thing He Wanted (1996); Vintage Didion (2004); The 1960s & 70s (2019); Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1968); The White Album (1979); Salvador (1983); Miami (1987); Some Women (1990); After Henry (1992); Sentimental Journeys (1993); Perspectives on the Individual (1998); Political Fictions (2001); Fixed Ideas (2003); Where I Was From (2003); Live and Learn (2005); The Year of Magical Thinking (2005); We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live (2006); Blue Nights (2011); Insider Baseball (2016); South and West (2017); Collected Essays (2018); Let Me Tell You What I Mean (2021); Bonds of War (2022); What She Means (2022); The Writer on Her Work (1980); Women Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews (1989); Florida Stories (1993); Writing Women's Lives (1994); Writing New York (1998); The Eloquent Essay (2000); Writing Los Angeles (2002); The Little Big Book of California (2005); 40 Model Essays (2005); The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers (2005).

Movies and television:

A Star Is Born (1976 / 2018); Babel (2005); Broken Trust (1995); Celebrity: Dominick Dunne (2008); Charlie Rose (1996–2011); Crossing Borders: The Journey of Carlos Fuentes (1989); David Halberstam: The Coldest Winter (2007); Dominick Dunne et les crimes de la jet set (2007); Ellie Parker (2005); Everything Is Copy (2015); Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017); Kraft Suspense Theatre (1965); Late Review (2011); New York 360º Presents: The 2007 Matrix Awards (2007); New York in the 50's (2000); Nicole (1976); Northern Exposure (1993); Out of My Head (2018); Play It As It Lays (1972); Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A. (1995); Such Good Friends (1971); The 50 Year Argument (2014); The Brandon Teena Story (1998); The Falling of the Bright (2008); The Last Thing He Wanted (2020); The Panic in Needle Park (1971); The South Bank Show (2007); True Confessions (1981); Up Close & Personal (1996); West Wing Week (2013); Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990); Writers in Needle Park (2011).

Born on this day – Robert Towne:

Robert Towne

Writer

Director

November 23, 1934 – July 1, 2024

Credits:

47th Annual Academy Awards (1975); 50 Films to See Before You Die (2006); 8 Million Ways to Die (1986); A Classy Broad (2016); A Decade Under the Influence (2003); A Sad Flower in the Sand (2001); AFI Life Achievement Award (2008); AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains (2003); American Masters (1998–2008); Armageddon (1998); Ask the Dust (2006); Behind the Mission: The Making of 'M:I-2' (2000); Bonnie and Clyde (1967); Bookmark (1988); Breaking Point (1964); Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005); Budd Boetticher: An American Original (2005); Cadillac Desert (1997); CBS Mornings (1990); Chinatown (1974); Chinatown Revisited with Roman Polanski, Robert Evans and Robert Towne (1999); Chinatown: Filming (2007); Chinatown: The Beginning and the End (2007); Chinatown: The Legacy (2007); Cisco Pike (1971); Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961); Crimson Tide (1995); Days of Thunder (1990); Deal of the Century (1983); Drive, He Said (1971); Fort McCoy (2011); Frantic (1988); Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984); Hal (2018); Halloween Monster Bash (1991); Heaven Can Wait (1978); Hollywood Insider (2021); Independent Lens (2006); Last Woman on Earth (1960); Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989); Love Affair (1994); Mad Men (2014–2015); McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971); Mission: Impossible (1996); Mission: Impossible II (2000); Mission: Remarkable - 40 Years of Creating the Impossible (2006); Orca (1977); Personal Best (1982); Playing the Field: Sports and Sex in America (2000); Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film (2002); Rescued from the Closet (2001); Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde' (2008); Robert Towne (2009); Salinger (2013); Screenwriters: Word Into Image (1982); Shampoo (1975); Suspect Zero (2004); Tequila Sunrise (1988); The 32nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1975); The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004); The Bedroom Window (1987); The Celluloid Closet (1995); The Century: America's Time (1999); The Escape Artist (1982); The Firm (1993); The Godfather (1972); The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002); The Last Detail (1973); The Lloyd Bridges Show (1963); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964); The Missouri Breaks (1976); The New Centurions (1972); The Outer Limits (1964); The Outsider (2005); The Parallax View (1974); The Pick-up Artist (1987); The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011); The Tomb of Ligeia (1964); The Two Jakes (1990); The Yakuza (1974); The Young Racers (1963); The Zodiac Killer (1971); Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987); Villa Rides (1968); Welcome to the Basement (2013–2017); What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018); Without Limits (1998); Wonderland (2003).

Born on this day – Jack Kehoe:

Jack Kehoe

Actor

November 21, 1934 – January 14, 2020

Born on this day – Joanna Barnes:

Joanna Barnes

Actress

Writer

November 15, 1934 – April 29, 2022

Credits:

Books:

From Floor to Ceiling: Decorating and Furnishing a Home (1970); Pastora (1980); Silverwood (1985); Starting from Scratch (date?); The Deceivers (1970); The Dissemblers (1971); Who Is Carla Hart? (1973).

Movies and television:

21 Beacon Street (1959); 25th Annual Family Film Awards (2022); 77 Sunset Strip (1963); Adventures in Paradise (1960); Alcoa Premiere (1962–1963); Alcoa Theatre (1960); Alias Smith and Jones (1971); Arrest and Trial (1964); Auntie Mame (1958); B.S. I Love You (1971); Bachelor Father (1962); Barney Miller (1982); Beach Patrol (1959); Benson (1986); Biography (1996); Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre (1965); Bringing Up Buddy (1961); Cain's Hundred (1961); Charlie's Angels (1979); Cheers (1989); Cheyenne (1957–1958); Classified X (2007); Colt .45 (1958); Conflict (1957); Cool Million (1972); Copycat (1963–1964); Dante (1960); Dateline: Hollywood (1967); Dolly (1987); Don't Make Waves (1967); Dr. Kildare (1965); Eddie (1971); Ellery Queen (1975); Empire (1963); Executive Suite (1976); Fantasy Island (1978–1979); Farewell to the Planet of the Apes (1980); Follow the Sun (1961); General Electric Theater (1960); Girl Talk (1968); Goodbye Charlie (1964); Guess My Sign (1968); Gypsy (1966); Hart to Hart (1982); Have Gun - Will Travel (1962); Hawaii Five-O (1972); Hawaiian Eye (1959); Here's Hollywood (1961–1962); Home Before Dark (1958); I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975); I'll Bet (1965); Judd for the Defense (1969); Laramie (1962); Love, American Style / Segment: Love and the Legend (1973); M Squad (1960); Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away (1986); Mannix (1968); Marcus Welby, M.D. (1973); Matt Helm (1975); Maverick (1957–1960); McCloud (1973); Michael Shayne (1961); Mr. Lucky (1960); Murder, She Wrote (1987); Nanny and the Professor (1970); No Time to Be Young (1957); Off to See the Wizard (1968); O'Hara, U.S. Treasury (1971); Onionhead (1958); Password (1965–1974); Pat Boone in Hollywood (1968); Philbert (Three's a Crowd) (1963); Philip Marlowe (1960); Planet of the Apes (1974); Playhouse 90 (1957); Quincy, M.E. (1976); Remington Steele (1983); Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1960); Rio (1961); S.W.A.T. (1975); Sam Benedict (1962); Secrets of a Mother and Daughter (1983); Snap Judgment (1967–1969); Spartacus (1960); Stagecoach West (1961); Steve Canyon (1958); Stumpers! (1976); Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers (1956); Target: The Corruptors (1961); Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959); Tempo (1970); The Betty White Show (1978); The Beverly Hillbillies (1963); The Bob Braun Show (1974); The Bob Cummings Show (1961); The Eleventh Hour (1963); The Farmer's Daughter (1964); The Ford Television Theatre (1957); The Garment Jungle (1957); The Investigators (1961); The Jack Barry Show (1963); The Jim Backus Show (1960); The Last Resort (1980); The Legacy of the Parent Trap (2024); The Magical World of Disney (1976); The Man from Blackhawk (1960); The Merv Griffin Show (1967–1971); The Mike Douglas Show (1971); The Millionaire (1960); The Name of the Game (1969); The New Perry Mason (1973); The Parent Trap (1961 / 1998); The Parent Trap: Caught in the Act (2002); The Purple Hills (1961); The Tab Hunter Show (1961); The Trials of O'Brien (1965–1966); The Untouchables (1961); The Virginia Graham Show (1971); The War Wagon (1967); The Young Set (1965); Then Came You (2000); To Tell the Truth (1967–1969); Too Many Thieves (1966); Too Much, Too Soon (1958); Trapper John, M.D. (1980–1985); Violent Road (1958); What's My Line? (1965–1973); When the Whistle Blows (1980); You Don't Say (1963).

Born on this day – Garry Marshall:

Garry Marshall

Writer

Director

Producer

Actor

November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016

Born on this day – Carl Sagan:

Carl Sagan

Astronomer

Planetary scientist

Cosmologist

Astrophysicist

Astrobiologist

Writer

November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996

Credits:

Books:

Contact (1985); Intelligent Life in the Universe (1966); Planets (1966); The Cosmic Connection (1973); Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (1974); Other Worlds (1975); Dragons of Eden (1977); Broca's Brain (1979); Cosmos (1980); Murmurs of Earth (1983); The Cold and the Dark: The World After Nuclear War (1984); Comet (1985); Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1992); Pale Blue Dot (1994); The Demon-Haunted World (1995); Billions & Billions (1997); The Varieties of Scientific Experience (2006); The New Solar System (1981); The Eloquent Essay (2000).

Movies and television:

Cosmos: Possible Worlds (2020); Star Stuff: A Story of Carl Sagan (2015); Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014); FanGirl Academy: 101 (2014); Pale Blue Dot (2009); Contact (1997); The Earth Day Special (1990); Cosmos (1980); Voyager Golden Record (1977).

Recommended reading:

3 books by Carl Sagan.

Cosmos

Published 1980.

ISBN-10: 9780345539434

ISBN-13: 978-0345539434

Description:

With a new Foreword by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

This visually stunning book with over 250 full-color illustrations, many of them never before published, is based on Carl Sagan’s thirteen-part television series. Told with Sagan’s remarkable ability to make scientific ideas both comprehensible and exciting, Cosmos is about science in its broadest human context, how science and civilization grew up together.

The book also explores spacecraft missions of discovery of the nearby planets, the research in the Library of ancient Alexandria, the human brain, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the origin of life, the death of the Sun, the evolution of galaxies and the origins of matter, suns and worlds.

Sagan retraces the fifteen billion years of cos-mic evolution that have transformed matter into life and consciousness, enabling the Cosmos to wonder about itself. He considers the latest findings on life elsewhere and how we might communicate with the beings of other worlds.

Cosmos is the story of our long journey of discovery and the forces and individuals who helped to shape modern science, including Democritus, Hypatia, Kepler, Newton, Huy-gens, Champollion, Lowell and Humason.

Sagan looks at our planet from an extra-terrestrial vantage point and sees a blue jewel-like world, inhabited by a lifeform that is just beginning to discover its own unity and to venture into the vast ocean of space.

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Pale Blue Dot:

A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Published 1994.

ISBN-10: 0345376595

ISBN-13: 978-0345376596

Description:

In Cosmos, the late astronomer Carl Sagan cast his gaze over the magnificent mystery of the Universe and made it accessible to millions of people around the world. Now in this stunning sequel, Carl Sagan completes his revolutionary journey through space and time.

Future generations will look back on our epoch as the time when the human race finally broke into a radically new frontier—space. In Pale Blue Dot, Sagan traces the spellbinding history of our launch into the cosmos and assesses the future that looms before us as we move out into our own solar system and on to distant galaxies beyond. The exploration and eventual settlement of other worlds is neither a fantasy nor luxury, insists Sagan, but rather a necessary condition for the survival of the human race.

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Contact

Published 1985.

A science-fiction novel.

ISBN-10: 0671004107

ISBN-13: 978-0671004101

Description:

In December, 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history.

Who – or what – is out there?

In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe.

In Contact, he predicts its future – and our own.

Born on this day – Victor Argo:

Victor Argo

Actor

November 5, 1934 – April 7, 2004

Credits:

A Change of Climate (1999); After Hours (1985); All in the Family (1973); Angel Eyes (2001); Angela (2002); Anything But Love (2002); Bad Lieutenant (1992); Baretta (1975); Blue in the Face (1995); Blue Moon (2000); Boxcar Bertha (1972); Bridget (2002); Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1980); Charlie's Christmas Secret (1984); Chopper One (1974); Cinéma, de notre temps (2003); Coming Soon (1999); Compression (2023); Condition Red (1995); Confessions of a Dangerous Mime (2004); Coyote Ugly (2000); Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989); Dangerous Game (1993); Dark Eyes (1995); Dealing: Or The Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972); Desperately Seeking Susan (1985); Dirt (2003); Don't Say a Word (2001); Double Whammy (2001); Dream House (1981); Dream Street (1989); Due vite, un destino (1993); Early Edition (1997); Falling in Love (1984); Fast Food Fast Women (2000); Fast Horses (1998); Fatal Confession: A Father Dowling Mystery (1990); Florida Straits (1986); Force Five (1975); Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999); Going Nomad (1998); Hanky Panky (1982); Her Alibi (1989); Hot Tomorrows (1977); Household Saints (1993); I Believe in America (2007); Joe Forrester (1976); Johnny Ryan (1990); Johnny Staccato (1977); King of New York (1990); Kingston: Confidential (1977); Kojak (1973–1974); Korg: 70,000 B.C. (1974); Law & Order (1992–1997); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2003); Leg Work (1987); Little Bill (2001–2003); Love = (Me) ^3 (2000); Lulu on the Bridge (1998); Lustre (2005); Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1977); McBain (1991); Mean Streets (1973); Men Lie (1994); Miami Vice (1988); Monkey Trouble (1994); Mulberry St (2006); Music (2003); New Rose Hotel (1998); New York News (1995); New York Stories / Segment: Life Lessons (1989); Next Stop Wonderland (1998); Off Beat (1986); On the Run (1999); Personal Sergeant (2004); Prince Street (1997); Queenie in Love (2001); Quick Change (1990); 'R Xmas (2001); Raw Deal (1986); Romando (1987); Shadows and Fog (1991); Side Streets (1998); Sins of Silence (1996); Smile Jenny, You're Dead (1974); Smoke (1995); Somebody to Love (1994); Spenser: For Hire (1985); Starsky and Hutch (1975); Taxi Driver (1976); The Don Is Dead (1973); The Electric Chair (1985); The Equalizer (1985); The Exorcist (1973); The Funeral (1996); The Last Temptation of Christ (1988); The Man Who Knew Belle Starr (2001); The Pick-up Artist (1987); The Rockford Files (1977); The Rose (1979); The Terminal Man (1974); The Unholy Rollers (1972); The Waltons (1973); The Wide World of Mystery (1974); The Yards (2000); Toma (1974); True Romance (1993); Under Fire (1995); Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1990); Very Like a Whale (1980); Which Way Is Up? (1977); Wonder Woman (1977).

Born on this day – Suzanne Shepherd:

Suzanne Shepherd

Actress

October 31, 1934 – November 17, 2023

Credits:

The Performance (2023); Blue Bloods (2016–2018); The Week Of (2018); Furlough (2018); Where Is Kyra? (2017); Jerome's Bouquet (2013); Delivering the Goods (2012); Gravity (2010); I Hate Valentine's Day (2009); Harold (2008); Choke (2008); The Sopranos (2000–2007); Twilight's Last Gleaming (2005); A Dirty Shame (2004); Ed (2000–2004); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2002); The Wormhole (2002); Deadline (2001); Never Again (2001); Third Watch (2000); Requiem for a Dream (2000); On the Run (1999); Vig (1998); American Cuisine (1998); Living Out Loud (1998); Come to (1998); Illuminata (1998); Lolita (1997); Trees Lounge (1996); Bullet (1996); Palookaville (1995); The Jerky Boys (1995); Jacob's Ladder (1990); Law & Order (1990); Goodfellas (1990); Second Sight (1989); Uncle Buck (1989); Working Girl (1988); Mystic Pizza (1988).

Born on this day – Inger Stevens:

Inger Stevens

Actress

October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970

Credits:

5 Card Stud (1968); A Dream of Kings (1969); A Guide for the Married Man (1967); A Time for Killing (1967); ABC's Nightlife (1965); ABC's Wide World of Entertainment (1964); Adventures in Paradise (1961); Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957); Armstrong Circle Theatre (1954); Bonanza (1959); Checkmate (1960); Climax! (1957); Conflict (1956); Crunch and Des (1956); Crusader (1956); Cry Terror! (1958); Danger (1954); Empire (1963); Firecreek (1968); Follow the Sun (1961); Girl Talk (1963); Goodyear Playhouse (1954); Gypsy (1967); Hang 'Em High (1968); Here's Hollywood (1961); Hong Kong (1960); House of Cards (1968); Inger Stevens in Sweden (1965); Kraft Theatre (1954); Madigan (1968); Mama (1955); Man on Fire (1957); Matinee Theatre (1956); Mister Peepers (1954); Moment of Fear (1960); Personality (1968); Playhouse 90 (1956–1959); Robert Montgomery Presents (1955); Route 66 (1960–1961); Run, Simon, Run (1970); Sam Benedict (1962); Studio One (1954–1955); Sunday Showcase (1959); The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1965); The 31st Annual Academy Awards (1959); The 37th Annual Academy Awards (1965); The 38th Annual Academy Awards (1966); The 39th Annual Academy Awards (1967); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963); The All New Truth or Consequences (1962); The Andy Williams Show (1966); The Aquanauts (1961); The Bob Hope Show (1964); The Borgia Stick (1967); The Buccaneer (1958); The Danny Kaye Show (1966); The Detectives (1961); The Dick Cavett Show (1968); The Dick Powell Theatre (1962–1963); The Doctors and the Nurses (1963); The DuPont Show of the Month (1961); The Ed Sullivan Show (1957); The Eleventh Hour (1962); The Farmer's Daughter (1963–1966); The Joey Bishop Show (1968); The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1956); The Mask of Sheba (1970); The Merv Griffin Show (1966); The Mike Wallace Interview (1960); The Millionaire (1956); The Most Deadly Game (1970); The New Interns (1964); The Pat Boone Show (1967); The Picture of Dorian Gray (1962); The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967); The Steve Allen Show (1968); The Tonight Show (1962); The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1962); The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1963–1967); The Twilight Zone / The Hitch-Hiker (1959); The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959); You Don't Say (1963); Your First Impression (1963); Zane Grey Theatre (1960).

Born on this day – Claude Jarman Jr.:

Claude Jarman Jr.

Actor

Producer

Director

September 27, 1934 – January 12, 2025

Credits:

Bigger Than Life with Claude Jarman Jr. (2020); Centennial (1979); Classified X (2007); Fair Wind to Java (1953); Fillmore (1972); Hangman's Knot (1952); High Barbaree (1947); Inside Straight (1951); Intruder in the Dust (1949); John Ford et Monument Valley (2013); MGM Parade (1956); Rio Grande (1950); Roughshod (1949); Some of the Best: Twenty-Five Years of Motion Picture Leadership (1949); That's Entertainment! (1974); The 70th Annual Academy Awards (1998); The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003); The Best of the Post (1960); The Dick Cavett Show (1971); The Great Locomotive Chase (1956); The Magical World of Disney (1961); The Mike Douglas Show (1980); The Outriders (1950); The Story of Lassie (1994); The Sun Comes Up (1949); The Yearling (1946); Wagon Train (1959).

Born on this day – Wilford Brimley:

Wilford Brimley

Actor

Singer

September 27, 1934 – August 1, 2020

Credits:

10 to Midnight (1983); 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2021); A Place to Grow (1995); Absence of Malice (1981); Act of Vengeance (1986); All My Friends Are Cowboys (1998); Amber Waves (1980); Bandolero! (1968); Big John (2006); Billy the Kid (1989); Biography (1999); Blood River (1991); Borderline (1980); Born to Ride: Cody Wright and the Quest for a World Title (2009); Brigham City (2001); Brubaker (1980); Chapter Perfect (1997); Cocoon (1985); Cocoon: The Return (1988); Comanche (2000); Country (1984); Crossfire Trail (2001); Death Valley (1982); Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009); Double Toasted (2022); End of the Line (1987); Entertainment Tonight (2020); Eternity (1990); Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985); Funny, You Don't Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville (1987); Hard Target (1993); Harry & Son (1984); Heaven Sent (1994); High Road to China (1983); Homicide: Life on the Street (1994); How the West Was Won (1979); I Believe (2017); In & Out (1997); Jackals (1986); Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1989); Keeper of the Flame (2005); Kung Fu (1975); Larry King Live (2003); Last of the Dogmen (1995); Lawman (1971); Liberty Medical Commercial (2004); Liberty Medical Wilford Brimley Diabetes Commercial (1990); Live with Kelly and Mark (1990); Lunker Lake (1998); Mansome (2012); Masque (2012); Miracles & Mercies (2002); Murder in Space (1985); Mutant Species (1994); My Fellow Americans (1996); One on One with John Tesh (1992); OP Center (1995); Our House (1986–1988); PC and the Web (2001); Pitcher and the Pin-Up (2003); Progeny (1998); Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985); Resurrection Mary (2002); Rétrogaming made in France (2019); Rodeo Girl (1980); Roughnecks (1980); Seinfeld (1997); Shadows on the Wall (1986); Special Collector's Edition (2012); Summer of the Monkeys (1998); TCM Remembers 2020 (2020); Tender Mercies (1983); Terror in the Aisles (1984); The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards (2020); The Awakening Land (1978); The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (2001); The Big Black Pill (1981); The Boys of Twilight (1992); The China Syndrome (1979); The Electric Horseman (1979); The Firm (1983 / 1993); The Frollo Show (2011–2020); The Frollo Show (2019); The Good Old Boys (1995); The Hotel New Hampshire (1984); The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2011–2013); The Making of 'Absence of Malice' (1982); The Making of 'the China Syndrome' (1979); The Men of Outpost 31 (2016); The Natural (1984); The Natural: The Best There Ever Was (2016); The Oregon Trail (1976–1977); The Oscars (2021); The Path of the Wind (2009); The Round and Round (2002); The Stone Boy (1984); The Thing (1982); The Waltons (1974–1977); The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979); Thompson's Last Run (1986); Timber the Treasure Dog (2016); Tough Enough (1983); True Grit (1969); Twentieth Century Fox: The Blockbuster Years (2000); Walker, Texas Ranger (1993); Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two (1992); Wilson's Floral (2016); Yellowstone (2020 / 2021).

Born on this day – Marie-Blanche Vergnes:

Marie-Blanche Vergnes

Actress

September 22, 1934 – July 28, 1989

Born on this day – Lorraine O'Grady:

Lorraine O'Grady

Artist

Photographer

Writer

Translator

September 21, 1934 – December 13, 2024

Credits:

Books:

Lorraine O'Grady: Both/And; Writing in Space, 1973-2019.

Podcast:

Womanica / Visionaries: Lorraine O'Grady (2021).