1864 - Author Lewis Carroll asks illustrator Sir John Tenniel to illustrate his story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

1905 - Author Margery Sharp is born in Wiltshire, England. She will write 26 novels for adults, 14 stories for children, 4 plays, 2 mysteries, and numerous short stories. Sharp's most famous work The Rescuers (a series about a mouse) will be adapted into 2 Disney animated films - The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under.

1931 - Actor Dean Jones, whose Disney credits include the live-action features The Love Bug, The Shaggy D.A., Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Snowball Express, The Horse in the Gray Flaneel Suit, and That Darn Cat!, is born in Morgan City, Alabama.

1938 - Passionate rhythm-and-blues singer Etta James - whose version of "It's A Small World/When You Wish Upon a Star Medley" appears on the CD Disney's Music From The Park - is born in Los Angeles, California.

1938 - Disney animator Art Babbitt and other unhappy employees, who believe they need to create a federation for representation, hold a general membership meeting at the American Legion Hall in Hollywood. The group elects Babbitt as president of the Cartoonists Federation.

1961 - Disney's 17th animated feature film 101 Dalmatians - featuring the voice of Rod Taylor - premieres. It is the first Disney feature to solely use the Xerox process for transferring the animators' drawings to cels. Prior to this, each one of the animators' drawings had to be hand-traced in ink onto a cel. The new process has sped up production greatly. (The film will be generally released the following month.)

1985 - Composer and Disney Legend Paul J. Smith passes away in Glendale, California. He wrote background music for nearly every Disney True-Life Adventure film and received an Oscar (along with Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) for the music in Pinocchio.

1987 - The television series The Wonderful World of Disney airs the episode "Double Switch."

1987 - Super Bowl XXI is played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The halftime show is a Disney production called "Salute to Hollywood's 100th Anniversary," featuring Southern California-area High School drill teams and dancers. The New York Giants win over the Denver Broncos, 39-20.

1993 - Toontown holds its official grand opening festivities at Disneyland. On hand to take part in a parade and special events are Michael Eisner and such celebrities as Robin Williams, Sally Fields, Dan Ackroyd, Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, and Tom Selleck. (Toontown will be dedicated the following day.)

1998 - At Super Bowl XXXII (in San Diego) Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway declares "I'm going to Disneyland!" after his team defeats the Green Bay Packers, 31–24.

1999 - McDonald's opens a themed restaurant in the Disney Village area at Disneyland Paris.

2000 - Disney names Robert Iger President and Chief Operating Officer, making him the company's number two executive under Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.

2002 - The Orlando Sentinel reports that Disney World plans to demolish about one-fourth of its troubled Disney Institute and build 192 new time-share units there.

2004 - The historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood screens Disney's Sleeping Beauty in its original 70MM format.

2004 - Disney's Dreams on Parade begins running at Tokyo Disneyland as part of the park's 20th anniversary celebration.

2004 - At the Golden Globe Awards, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy goes to Bill Murray for his performance in Lost in Translation, beatiing out Johnny Depp for his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

2005 - The Disney/Pixar animated film The Incredibles is nominated for 4 Academy Awards!

2007 - Jim and Lisa Fouch and their children, Brad and Hannah from Michigan make history as the first Walt Disney World guests to win a night's stay inside Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom Park.

2008 - Disney Channel premieres the original film Minutemen, about three "uncool" high school seniors who find a way to change their world, thanks to a homemade time machine. It stars Jason Dolley (from Disney Channel's Cory in the House) as Virgil Fox.

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