Animation Fun Facts for April 16, 2013

birthdays: King John II “The good” of France (1319), Elisabeth Vignee-Lebrun, Wilbur Wright, Charlie Chaplin, J.P. Morgan, Kingsley Amis, Anatole France, Henry Mancini, Peter Ustinov, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bobby Vinton, Spike Milligan, John Halas, Edie Adams, Hans Sloane, Martin Lawrence is 48, John Cryer is 48, Ellen Barkin is 59, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is 86. 1787- What some consider the first professionally produced American play- Royall Tyler’s the Contrast- debuted at New York City’s John Street Theater. It was a comedy that poked fun at aristocracy. Gen. George Washington was in the audience. At this time the Broadway theater district and Times Square was a quiet forest clearing. 1828- Spanish artist Francisco Goya died at 82 in Bordeaux, France. Years later when his remains were moved to Madrid it was discovered Goya wasn't alone in his grave. His friend Martin Goesochea's remains were in with him. Maybe there was a two-for-one sale.. 1935- Fibber McGee and Molly debut on radio. 1947- The Zoom Lens patented. 1959- John McCarthy of MIT invented the computer language LISP. This was used in a lot of Symbolics CGI programs. 1983- Disney Channel debuted. 1983- Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totorro debuted in Japan.