1903 - George Givot, the voice of Tony in Disney's 1955 classic Lady and the Tramp, is born in Omaha, Nebraska.

1907 - Actor-comic Billy De Wolfe, who appears in the 1973 live-action Disney feature The World's Greatest Athlete, is born in Wollaston, Massachusetts. (He is also the voice of Professor Hinckle in the classic animated holiday TV special Frosty the Snowman.)

1933 - Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Pal Pluto is released. Pluto rescues several tiny kittens from drowning and then becomes jealous of the way they are welcomed into Mickey's home.

1939 - Disney's animated Mickey's Surprise Party is released. The commercial short is made for the National Biscuit Company and will be shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

1949 - Actor Pat Fraley, whose voice can be heard in such animated features as Chicken Little, Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 2, is born in Seattle, Washington.

1953 - Disney's The Alaskan Eskimo, a short documentary shot by the team of Alfred and Elma Milotte, is released. (It will win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.)

1960 - Under storm-threatening skies, the greatest winter athletes in the world gather in Squaw Valley, California, to begin the VIII Olympic Winter Games. The opening (and closing) ceremonies are orchestrated by Walt Disney (the Head of Pageantry for the Games), and involve 5,000 participants, 1,285 instruments and 2,645 voices from 52 California and Nevada high school bands. Disney artist John Hench has designed the massive Tower of Nations, located at the entrance of the valley. Hench's unique Olympic torch design will be the basis for all future torches! The valley features 30 flagpoles for the flags of the participating nations. Each flagpole has a plaque signed by Walt Disney. After the Games the flagpoles will find homes in such places as the Walt Disney Elementary School in Marceline, Missouri, and the Disney Studio Commissary, in Burbank, California. (The event will run through February 28.)

1962 - The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs episode 200 - part 1 of "Comancho."

1964 - Canadian inventor Joseph-Armand Bombardier (designer of the modern snowmobile) passes away at the age of 56. His company Bombardier, a manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, will go on to build Walt Disney World's Mark VI Monorails.

1964 - Actor Matt Dillon - Trip Murphy in the 2005 Herbie: Fully Loaded - is born in New Rochelle, New York.

1970 - Singer-actress Susan Egan, Broadway's original Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, is born in Seal Beach, California. She played Belle for a year on Broadway and then reprised her role in the Los Angeles Production in 1995. Her Disney credits also include Lady and the Tramp II, House of Mouse, Spirited Away, and Hercules (as the voice of Megara).

1979 - The Wonderful World of Disney airs part 2 of "Ride a Wild Pony."

1989 - The TV series The Golden Girls airs "Two Rode Together." In this episode the girls take a trip to Disney World.

1995 - Disney's The Lion King is released on videocassette in the U.S. (Some 20 million copies will be sold in the first week.)

2000 - A new fireworks show entitled "Believe ... There's Magic in the Stars," officially debuts at Disneyland. It has been created especially for the park's 45th anniversary.

2001 - The Disney Channel presents Eye On LA: "First Look at Disney's Newest Theme Park."

2002 - Disney World celebrates Presidents' Day with the official dedication of the updated Hall of Presidents attraction (which now includes an Audio-Animatronics figure of President George W. Bush). Fifty students from Lost Lake Elementary School (in Lake County) lead cast members and park guests in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Disney World Philharmonic Orchestra and Voices of Liberty choral group perform patriotic music.

2004 - The Walt Disney Company and The Jim Henson Company announces that they have entered into an agreement under which Disney will acquire the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House properties from Henson.

2007 - The China Pavilion at Epcot celebrates the Chinese New Year.

2008 - Disney's Vero Beach Resort honors baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda by officially naming the resort's recreation lawn "Lasorda Field" during a special ceremony. During the more than six decades in which the Dodgers have called Vero Beach their spring home, Lasorda has become one of the most recognized figures in baseball as a player, coach, manager and executive.

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