1732 - Francis Marion, a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and later Brigadier General in the South Carolina Militia during the American Revolutionary War, is born near Georgetown, South Carolina. Known as the "Swamp Fox" - for his ability to use decoy and ambush tactics to disrupt enemy communications, capture supplies, and free prisoners - his exploits will be the inspiration for a 1950s television series starring Leslie Nielsen & produced by Walt Disney.

1920 - Actor Tony Randall is born Leonard Rosenberg in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He will go on to appear in the 1989 TV special "The Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park Grand Opening," and host the 1987 TV special "Walt Disney World Celebrity Circus." (TV fans will know him best as Felix Unger in the classic series "The Odd Couple.")

1934 - Disney's Building a Building and Three Little Pigs are both nominated for the same Academy Award ... Short Subjects, Cartoon! Ironically so is Walt Lantz's The Merry Old Soul - starring Oswald the Rabbit. Winners will be announced March 16.

1940 - Disney's Pinocchio is first released in Brazil.

1941 - Walt Disney sends an inter-office communication stating that "Under present conditions, the laying out of cash for equipment is out of line. Our situation is plenty tough and after returning from a session with the bankers we have to stretch things out as far as we can and we still have to cut further." Disney is being forced to focus on cutbacks.

1942 - It's a blockbuster night for Disney as Walt himself receives a special Academy Award, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (given to creative producers) at the 1941 Academy Awards. Music conductor Leopold Stokowski receives a special Oscar for his work on Disney's Fantasia. Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins and the RCA Manufacturing Company are also awarded a special Oscar for "their outstanding contribution to the advancement of the use of sound in motion pictures through the production of Fantasia." The Disney/RKO short cartoon Lend a Paw is presented with an Academy Award as well (beating out 9 other cartoon shorts including Disney's Truant Officer Donald). Songwriters Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace take home Oscar for Scoring of a Musical Picture, for their work on Dumbo.

1953 - Walt Disney is given the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes held at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

1958 - The Disneyland TV series airs episode 92 - "The Saga of Andy Burnett: The Land of Enemies." It is the 4th episode of the Burnett serial.

1960 - The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Texas John Slaughter: Kentucky Gunslick."

1961 - Walt Disney Presents airs part 2 of the film"Westward Ho! The Wagons."

1962 - Academy Award nominations are announced. Disney's The Absent Minded Professor earns 3, Parent Trap is nominated for 2, Babes in Toyland is also recognized for 2, and the animated short Aquamania is nominated for 1.

1995 - Grand opening ceremonies begin for Disneyland's newest attraction, Indiana Jones Adventure.

1998 - The All Star Cafe (a 240-seat restaurant) opens at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida.

1998 - Disney Legend James Algar, who brought nature and history documentaries as well as animated classics to Disney fans for more than four decades, passes away at age 85 in Carmel, California. Best known for the Disney True Life Adventure series he directed, including the films Beaver Valley, Bear Country and The Living Desert, Algar also created shows for Disney theme parks. He wrote and produced the Hall of Presidents attraction for Walt Disney World.

2000 - The Disney animated series The Weekenders debuts with the episode "Crush Test Dummies." The show's title music is written and performed by Wayne Brady.

2000 - ABC-TV airs episode 11 of Mickey Mouse Works. The program features the shorts "Mickey's Mixed Nuts," "Goofy's Extreme Sports: Shark Feeding," "Mickey's Mountain," and "computer.don" (featuring Donald, Daisy, Mickey & Goofy).

2002 - Disney's Cinderella II: Dreams Come True is released on DVD & video. The movie features the voice of Jennifer Hale as Cinderella (whose voice-over work includes the 2002 movie The Powerpuff Girls and the Disney TV series House of Mouse).

2002 - An unclaimed Mickey Mouse snow globe clears out a section of the Sacramento International Airport after being mistaken for a bomb. The unlabeled cardboard box causes 150 people to be evacuated from the B-1 terminal and 5 outbound flights to be delayed.

2002 - Kmart and Disney debut a colorful and fun new line of Disney-branded apparel at Kmart's Astor Place store in New York City.

2006 - The Timekeeper - located in Disney World's Magic Kingdom - permanently closes (although it hasn't operated since late 2005). A poorly attended Tomorrowland attraction, it first opened in 1994.

2008 - The Little Mermaid Original Broadway Cast Album is officially released. The album features hits from the animated film plus 10 all-new songs written for the Broadway production.

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