Animation Fun Facts for Jan 31, 2013

Birthdays: Gouverner Morris, Zane Grey, James G. Blaine*, Franz Schubert, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, Sir John Profumo, Phillip Glass, Johnny Rotten, Ernie Banks, Norman Mailer, Nolan Ryan, Susanne Pleshette, Anthony LaPaglia, Tallulah Bankhead, Jean Simmons, Justin Timberlake is 32, Portia DiRossi, Minnie Driver is 43, Carol Channing is 92. *James G. Blaine was a corrupt politician and failed Republican presidential candidate that Thomas Nast loved to make derogatory cartoons of. Today is the Feast day of St. John Bosco, patron saint of Catholic Schools. Happy National Dress up in a Gorilla Suit Day. First advocated by Don Martin, cartoonist for MAD Magazine. 1954- Howard Armstrong, the inventor of FM Radio, driven to despair by constant lawsuits with RCA Corporation over his patents, jumped to his death out of a hotel window. He first put on his hat, overcoat and gloves because he didn't want to be cold...(?) Armstrong loved heights and used to climb hundreds of feet in the air to meditate on top of his radio antennas. By 1977 his family won all the lawsuits. Today, most radio, television and air traffic communications are by FM band. 1978- Polish director Roman Polanski fled the U.S. for exile after being charged for having sex with a thirteen year old girl in Jack Nicholson’s house. 1999- The first episode of Seth McFarlane’s show Family Guy premiered.