Animation Fun Facts for Feb 5, 2013

Birthdays: Sir Robert Peel founder of London’s police force- the Bobbies, outlaw Belle Starr, John Carradine, William Burroughs, Arthur Ochs Schulzburger, Hank Aaron is 80, Tim Holt, Barbera Hershey, Charlotte Rampling, Roger Staubach, Michael Mann is 70, Bobby Brown, H. R. Giger, Red Buttons, Christopher Guest, Jennifer Jason Leigh is 52, Laura Linney is 49, Michael Sheen is 44 1919- Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith form the United Artists Studio. 1921- The Loews State Theater in Chicago opened. 1922- The Reader’s Digest began publication. 1936-THE BATTLE OF JARAMA - Spanish General Franco’s Fascist army was thrown back from the gates of Madrid with help from the Republic’s newly arrived foreign volunteers, called the International Brigades. The idealistic young Europeans and Americans (the Abraham Lincoln Brigade) were thrown into the battle with no training as they had just arrived. They suffered 50% casualties but won the day. The Lincolns sang a tune to Popeye the Sailor Man: "In a green little vale called Jarama, We made all the fascists cry "Mama!; we fight for our pay, just six cents a day, and play football with a bomb-a " 1937- Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times premiered. Chaplin was inspired to lampoon modern technological madness when he was invited to view the auto assembly production lines in Detroit and saw men moving like machines. 1952-New York City is the first to adopt the three light traffic lights-red, yellow, green. 1953- 60 years ago- Walt Disney’s "Peter Pan" premiered. 1956- Darryl Zanuck resigned from 20th Century Fox, the studio he built into a powerhouse. He later won back the chairmanship in 1962 only to be ousted finally in 1970. 1957- Mel Lazarus’ comic strip Miss Peach debuted.