At 6:37 p.m. EST on this date in 1968, I arrived. (Thank you, mom.) At that hour, I was a little late for dinner, which soon became a habit I cultivated through my teen years. Gary Sheffield, Owen Wilson, quite a few others, and I turn 48 today.

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Steamboat Willie, an animated short film by Walt Disney Animation Studios, premiered at Universal’s Colony Theater (now The Broadway Theatre) in New York City on this date in 1928.

It was Disney’s first animated short that featured fully synchronized sound, so it was an enormous success, and it also introduced two new characters: Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Both Mickey and Minnie are 88 today. The film (after the jump):

 
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Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” was published in the New York Saturday Press on this date in 1865. The story was an immediate success and launched Twain’s career.

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The Jonestown mass murder, in which 918 people were led to their death by a suicidal cult leader, took place on this date in 1978.

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Marcel Proust died on this date in 1922. Niels Bohr died on this date in 1962. Vice-President Henry A. Wallace died on this date in 1965. Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. died on this date in 1969.

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Brenda Vaccaro is 77. Margaret Atwood is 77. Linda Evans is 74. Susan Sullivan is 74. Graham Parker is 66. Delroy Lindo is 64. Kevin Nealon is 63. Alan Moore is 63. Warren Moon is 60. Elizabeth Perkins is 56. Kim Wilde is 56. Jamie Moyer is 54. Gary Sheffield is 48. Owen Wilson is 48. Megyn Kelly is 46. Chloë Sevigny is 42.

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