On this day in movie history - Sliding Doors (1998):

Sliding Doors

directed and written by Peter Howitt,

was released in the United States on January 26, 1998.
Music by David Hirschfelder.

Cast:

Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Zara Turner, Douglas McFerran, Paul Brightwell, Nina Young, Virginia McKenna, Kevin McNally, Terry English, Paul Stacey, Peter Howitt, Joanna Roth, Neil Stuke, Theresa Kartell, Evelyn Duah, Linda Broughton, Charlotte Fryer, Pip Miller, Christopher Villiers, Merryn Jones, Ella Jones, Julie McDowell, David Burrows-Sutcliffe, Carlton Jarvis, Jeremy Caleb Johnson, Barry Lee-Thomas, Tim Packham, Alexander Reid, Vivienne Soan.

On this day in movie history - What Happened Was… (1994):

What Happened Was…

directed and written by Tom Noonan,

was released at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States on January 26, 1994.
Music by Tom Noonan (credited as Ludovico Sorret).

Cast:

Karen Sillas and Tom Noonan.

On this day in television history - Space 1999 (1976):

Space 1999

Season 1. Episode 21.

Episode entitled: Space Brain.

Released January 26, 1976.

Directed by Charles Crichton.

Written by Christopher Penfold.

Series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson.

Music by Barry Gray.

Cast: Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, Barry Morse, Prentis Hancock, Clifton Jones, Zienia Merton, Anton Phillips, Shane Rimmer, Carla Romanelli, Nick Tate, Derek Anders, Tony Allyn, Robert Atiko, Sarah Bullen, Loftus Burton, Laurie Davis, Carol Dee, Jacqueline Delhaye, Andy Dempsey, Joe Dunne, Alan Harris, Judith Hepburn, Ann Maj-Brit, Quentin Pierre, Diana Reeves, Suzanne Roquette, Mike Sirett, James Snell, Michael Stevens, Erica Svenson.

On this day in movie history - The Hot Rock (1972 movie & novel):

The Hot Rock

directed by Peter Yates,

written by William Goldman,

based on the novel by Donald E. Westlake,

was released in the United States on January 26, 1972.

Music by Quincy Jones.

Cast:

Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand, Moses Gunn, Zero Mostel, William Redfield, Topo Swope, Christopher Guest, Graham Jarvis, Lynne Gordon, Charlotte Rae, Harry Bellaver.

Recommended reading:

The Hot Rock

By Donald E. Westlake.

Book # 1 in the Dortmunder series.

Published by Simon & Schuster.

First published 1970.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0671205412

ISBN-13: 978-0671205416

Description:

John Archibald Dortmunder is the archetypal criminal manque. Brought up in an orphanage in the Midwest, he is 37 years old, served in the "police action" in Korea, was arrested twice for robbery following his release from the service, and was briefly married to a nightclub entertainer named Honeybun Bazoom from whom he was granted an uncontested divorce. For reasons totally beyond his comprehension, Dortmunder is chosen to lead a gang of master hoodlums. Their job: to steal an emerald valued at $500,000. Their employer: Major Patrick Iko, a mustached African diplomat whose country has just lost the gem through a thoughtless political decision. The specialists Dortmunder selects for his impossible mission include: Kelp: an ex-con with a penchant for stealing cars with MD license plates. Stan Murch: a crook who lives with his mother, a cab driver, and collects stereo records of "Sounds of Indianapolis." Roger Chefwick: the railroad nut, a skinny man of late middle age, whose three H-O gauge trains constantly couple and uncouple on H-O gauge track in a waist-high plywood platform in his basement. What follows in this delightful new novel by Donald E. Westlake is an unparalleled mixture of laughter and thrills, featuring a car crash into the New York Coliseum, a free-swinging helicopter attack on a police station, and a wild breakout from an insane asylum on a Tom Thumb locomotive stolen from a nearby amusement park.

On this day in music history:

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel (1970)

Kids in America by Kim Wilde (1981)

Cecilia Bartoli: A Portrait / documentary (1992)

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Album by Simon & Garfunkel,

released January 26, 1970.

Track list: Bridge over Troubled Water; El Condor Pasa (If I Could); Cecilia; Keep the Customer Satisfied; So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright; The Boxer; Baby Driver; The Only Living Boy in New York; Why Don’t You Write Me; Bye Bye Love; Song for the Asking.

Kids in America

Song by Kim Wilde,

released January 26, 1981.

Cecilia Bartoli: A Portrait

Documentary directed by David Thomas and Les Young,

released January 26, 1992.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek (1967)

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991)

Star Trek: Voyager (2000)

Star Trek

Season 1. Episode 19.

Episode entitled: Tomorrow Is Yesterday.

Released January 26, 1967.

Directed by Michael O'Herlihy.

Written by D.C. Fontana.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Alexander Courage.

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Roger Perry, Hal Lynch, Richard Merrifield, John Winston, Ed Peck, Mark Dempsey, Jim Spencer, Sherri Townsend, Majel Barrett, Bill Blackburn, John Burnside, Frank da Vinci, Eddie Paskey.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Season 4. Episode 12.

Episode entitled: The Wounded.

Released January 26, 1991.

Directed by Chip Chalmers.

Written by Jeri Taylor, Stuart Charno, Sara B. Cooper / Sara Charno, Cy Chermak, Ronald D. Moore, Joe Menosky, David Carren, J. Larry Carroll.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Dennis McCarthy.

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Bob Gunton, Rosalind Chao, Marc Alaimo, Colm Meaney, Marco Rodríguez, Time Winters, John Hancock, Majel Barrett, Tracee Cocco, Denise Deuschle, Eben Ham, Jeri McBride, James McElroy.

Star Trek: Voyager

Season 6. Episode 13.

Episode entitled: Virtuoso.

Released January 26, 2000.

Directed by Les Landau.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.

Written by Raf Green, Kenneth Biller, Raf Green, Bryan Fuller, Michael Taylor, Robert Doherty.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Dennis McCarthy.

Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Kamala Lopez-Dawson, Ray Xifo, Paul Williams, Marie Caldare, Nina Magnesson, Rico Bueno, Leonard Crofoot, Zadrina Eisenmann, Tarik Ergin, Peter Scott Harmyk, Nichole McAuley, Tom Miller, Joey Sakata, Lou Saliba, Pablo Soriano, Paris Themmen.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1960):

M Squad

Season 3. Episode 19.
Episode entitled: The Man Who Lost His Brain.
Released January 26, 1960.
Directed by Francis D. Lyon and Herman Hoffman.
Written by Rik Vollaerts.
Music by Benny Carter.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Paul Newlan, Vinton Hayworth, Howard Petrie, Vince Williams, Steve Conte, Jean Howell, Fred Coby.