1848 - It is believed by most historians that author & journalist Joel Chandler Harris is born near Eatonton, Georgia. (Although some records show he may have been born December 9.) Harris will best be remembered for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. The tales of Uncle Remus will be translated into 20 languages and immortalized on film in 1946 by Walt Disney in Song of the South.

1888 - Herbert Arthur Disney (Walt's brother and the oldest child of Flora and Elias Disney) is born in Daytona Beach, Florida.

1916 - Director/producer Richard Fleischer (a 2003 Disney Legend honoree) is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will serve as the director of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, one of Disney's most ambitious live-action films.

1932 - Conductor & film composer Carl Edouarde passes away. He was the conductor of the orchestra for Steamboat Willie.

1936 - An evening story meeting takes place at the Disney Studio to once again discuss the personalities and characteristics of Snow White's dwarfs.

1937 - Actor James MacArthur is born in Los Angeles, California. He will go on to portray Fritz Robinson in Disney's 1960 live-action film Swiss Family Robinson. (TV audiences will know him best as Detective Danny Williams on the series Hawaii Five-O.)

1938 - Disney's first full length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released in Italy.

1941 - The day after the Pearl Harbor bombing, the U.S. Army has finished setting up camp at Walt Disney's Burbank studio for the repair of military vehicles and antiaircraft guns, and use as a primary defense station to guard the nearby Lockheed plant against possible air attacks. (Soon one-third of Walt's animators will be drafted.) That evening, Walt receives a call from a navy official offering the studio a contract for twenty films on aircraft and warship identification.

1944 - The Disney short Donald's Off Day is released. It is the first short directed by animator Jack Hannah.

1954 - The Disneyland television series presents a behind-the-scenes look at the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (This episode will win an Emmy for Best Individual Program of the Year.)

1955 - The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Circus Day.

1956 - The fourth of eight installments titled "My Dad, Walt Disney," by Diane Disney Miller as told to Pete Martin (a "celebrity friendly" writer) appears in the Saturday Evening Post.

1963 - Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 2 of "Pollyanna."

1997 - Disney/ABC Cable Networks announced plans to launch Toon Disney, a new 24-hour basic cable network featuring the company's vast library of animated television programming.

1999 - The Orlando Sentinel reports that Disney World is moving ahead with plans to develop one of its largest-ever resorts. The 5,760-room economy-style resort, spread across 20 buildings near Disney-MGM Studios, is still unnamed. (It will eventually be called the Pop Century Resort.)

1999 - Robert and Richard Sherman - the songwriting team that have created some of the most well-recognized Disney music - appear at Disneyland. The brothers take part in an informal presentation at the Team Disney Anaheim Auditorium for Cast Members only.

2005 - DISNEY LIVE! WINNIE THE POOH begins a special month-long holiday engagement at New York' Citys legendary Beacon Theatre.

2005 - Disney announces that its next animated release will be a Peter Pan prequel titled Peter and the Starcatchers (based on the 2004 children's book by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry).

2006 - It is reported that MarketWatch has named Robert Iger of Disney as the CEO of the Year for 2006, thanks in part to his commitment to innovation within the entertainment industry.

2006 - Strong winds force a full closure of Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris!

2006 - Disney Channel debuts "Dinner Guest," the 25th episode of Life with Derek.

2008 - International recording artist Josh Groban hosts BBC Radio 2 Celebrates the Music of Disney held live at London's Lyceum Theatre. The concert, which is recorded for a December 26 broadcast, features the 70-piece BBC Concert Orchestra performing Oscar, Grammy and Tony Award-winning music spanning over 65 years of the Disney songbook. Broadway and West End performers include Ashley Brown (Broadway's original Mary Poppins and a take-over Belle in Broadway's Beauty and the Beast), Tituss Burgess (original Broadway casts of The Little Mermaid), Kerry Butler (a Broadway Belle for Beauty and the Beast), Heather Headley (Broadway's original Aida and Nala in The Lion King), Adam Pascal (original Broadway casts of Aida), and Drew Sarich (original Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame).

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