Born on this day – Jane Austen:

Jane Austen

Writer

December 16, 1775 – July 18, 1817

Credits:

The Watsons (1804); Sense and Sensibility (1811); Pride and Prejudice (1813); Mansfield Park (1814); Emma (1815); Sanditon (1817); Northanger Abbey (1818); Persuasion (1818); The Beautifull Cassandra (1793); Lesley Castle: An Unfinished Novel In Letters (1793); Lady Susan (1794); Love and Freindship (2015); The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen (2017); A Memoir of Jane Austen (2017); The Letters of Jane Austen (2018); Juvenilia Volume I Annotated (1787); Juvenilia Volume II Annotated (2021); Identity And Self Respect (1952); 50 Classic Novellas (2011); Writers: Their Lives and Works (2018); 30 Eternal Masterpieces of Humorous Stories (2019); Women Who Wrote (2020); Love, Lust and Passion in Regency Times (2021); The Bridgerthonian Novels (2022); The Greatest Tales of Regency Romance (2023); Hungry for Blood – Ultimate Halloween Collection (2023).

Born on this day – Ludwig van Beethoven:

Ludwig van Beethoven

Composer

Musician

December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827

Recommended reading: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1968):

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

By Philip K. Dick.

Filmed as Blade Runner (1982), directed by Ridley Scott.

ASIN: 0586036059

Published by Voyager.

First published 1968.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0006482805

ISBN-13: 978-0586036051

Description:

21st Century Bounty Hunter.

Through the mean streets of a grim 21st century megalopolis, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked, searching out the renegade replicants who were his prey. But this assignment involved Nexus-6 targets and as a result Deckard quickly found himself involved in a nightmare kaleidoscope of violence and subterfuge – and the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted…

“A marvelous and complex book, simply written but leaving all kinds of resonance in the mind.” – Brian W. Aldiss.

James Patterson, on reading:

Better readers are better thinkers.

- James Patterson.

Holbrook Jackson, on reading:

Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.

- Holbrook Jackson.

On this day in movie history - Million Dollar Baby (2004):

Million Dollar Baby

directed by Clint Eastwood,

written by Paul Haggis,

based on the book Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole,

was released in the United States on December 15, 2004.
Narrated by Morgan Freeman.
Music by Clint Eastwood.

Cast:

Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Mike Colter, Lucia Rijker, Brían F. O'Byrne, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale, Riki Lindhome, Michael Peña, Benito Martinez, Bruce MacVittie, David Powledge, Joe D'Angerio, Marcus Chait, Tom McCleister, Erica Grant, Naveen, Morgan Eastwood, Jamison Yang, Dean Familton, Louis Moret, Jon D. Schorle II, Marty Sammon, Steven M. Porter, Ray Corona, Ming Lo, Miguel Pérez, Jim Cantafio, Ted Grossman, Ned Eisenberg, Marco Rodríguez, Roy Nugent, Don Familton, Mark Thomason, Brian T. Finney, Spice Williams-Crosby, Kim Strauss, Rob Maron, Kirsten Berman, Susan Krebs, Sunshine Chantal Parkman, Kim Dannenberg, Eddie Bates, Minerva Adams, Jimmy Alioto, Nina Avetisova, Michael Bentt, Tamara Bossett, Bruce Gerard Brown Jr., John Eric Brown, Jude Ciccolella, Marc De'Antone, Daniele Doobenen, Kimberly Estrada, Christopher Gilbertson, Rosine 'Ace' Hatem, Adolfo Jimenez, Guillermo Jorge, Michael Keyes, Mimi Lesseos, Sean LoGrasso, Paul McMichael, Robert McMurrer, Arnold Montey, Sean O'Kane, Ricky Pak, Mar Party, Cynthia Prouder, Vladimir Rajcic, Bridgett Riley, Ernie Rivera, Grant Roberts, Michael Saglimbeni, Bobby Silva, Nikky Smedley, Rick Solis, Mikee Stafford, McKay Stewart, Jaerin Washington, Jason Williams, Boni Yanagisawa.

On this day in movie history - Heat (1995):

Heat

directed and written by Michael Mann,

was released in the United States on December 15, 1995.
Previously filmed by Michael Mann as the TV movie L.A. Takedown (1986).
Music by Elliot Goldenthal.

Cast:

Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Tom Noonan, Kevin Gage, Hank Azaria, Susan Traylor, Kim Staunton, Danny Trejo, Henry Rollins, Jerry Trimble, Tone Loc, Ricky Harris, Ray Buktenica, Jeremy Piven, Xander Berkeley, Martin Ferrero, Hazelle Goodman, Paul Herman, Cindy Katz, Dan Martin, Rick Avery, Bill McIntosh, Thomas Rosales Jr., Patricia Healy, Yvonne Zima, Farrah Forke.