Today in History, 2/20

1472: Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland as part of a dowry payment.
1547: Edward VI is crowned King of England. He was Henry VIII's son, but he didn't last long due to health issues.1792: George Washington signs an act creating the US Post Office.
1872: In New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.1902: Ansel Adams is born.1906: Gale Gordon is born. He played the stingy Mr. Mooney on The Lucy Show.
1912: Pierre Boulle is born. He wrote Planet of the Apes and The Bridge on the River Kwai.
1925: Robert Altman is born.
1926: Richard Matheson is born. He wrote I Am Legend and a ton of other books.
1927: Roy Cohn is born. He was a big anti-Communist during the 50's and a crony of Senator McCarthy.

"Senator, your shoulder smells terrific!"

1927: Sidney Poitier is born.
1931: Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is approved.1933: Congress proposes the 21st Amendment, repealing Prohibition.
1936: Marj Dusay is born. She's been in lots of things, but I remember her as one of the aliens who steals Spock's brain.

"Brain, brain brain. What is brain?"

1936: Larry Hovis is born. He played Carter on Hogan's Heroes.
1943: American movie executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943: Big Week, an Allied attempt to destroy Luftwaffe air superiority begins.
1945: Brion James is born. He was a character actor in lots of movies but he is perhaps best know as the Replicant who says, "My mother? I'll tell you about my mother!" in Bladerunner.1946: Sandy Duncan is born.
1946: J. Geils, of the J. Geils Band, is born.

1947: The State of Prussia ceases to exist.
1950: Walter Becker, guitarist for Steely Dan is born.
1954: Anthony Stewart Head is born. He played Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also played the wicked Mr. Finch in the Doctor Who episode "School Reunion."1954: Patty Hearst is born.
1960: Joel Hodgson, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is born.

1962: John Glen becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.
1964: French Stewart, of Third Rock From the Sun, is born.
1966: Cindy Crawford is born.1967: Kurt Cobain is born.
1967: Lili Taylor is born.