1911 - Animator & Disney Legend John Lounsbery, one of Walt's "Nine Old Men," is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. (His vast contributions will include Fantasia, Cinderella, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.)

1955 - On ABC-TV, Disneyland airs "Man in Space," the first of a 3-part series about space travel. The show features Walt Disney, animator Ward Kimball (the director of the series), and scientists Willy Ley, Heinz Haber, and Wernher von Braun (who will later be one of the leaders in the American space program). The show is narrated by Dick Tufeld (who will later be known as the voice of the robot on the TV series Lost in Space). The next two parts "Man and the Moon" and "Mars and Beyond" will be aired over the next few years. (The Disney "science factual" series will be very influential in drumming up support in the U.S. for a manned space project.)

1980 - Disney's made-for-TV movie The Kids Who Knew Too Much airs for the first time. Three young model-building aficionados (played by Rad Daly, Dana Hill and Christopher Holloway) team up with an ace reporter (portrayed by Sharon Gless), who is investigating a murder. Everyone is plunged into peril when it is discover that the murder was committed to hush up a major political conspiracy!

1984 - Touchstone Pictures (part of the Disney family) releases its first film, Splash (directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, and John Candy.) Touchstone Pictures has been created to allow Disney to produce non-G-rated movies. In a scene from Splash, Madison (played by Hannah) is at Bloomingdales' electrical department when she passes television sets playing Disney's 1979 The Black Hole and the 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

1984 - Roy E. Disney resigns from the central board of the Walt Disney Company, setting in motion a series of takeover bids and maneuvering that by August will actually leave him in control of the company.

1985 - Tokyo Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade debuts. It is basically a carbon copy of the original Disneyland parade.

1986 - Actress Brittany Snow, who appears in Disney's 2005 comedy feature The Pacifier, is born in Tampa, Florida. She also took part in the short-lived TV series Walt Disney World Inside Out.

1994 - Previews begin for Disney's newest Broadway stage show Beauty and the Beast. (Opening night will be April 18.)

2001 - Disney Channel's original movie, The Luck of the Irish airs. (It will be the network's highest-rated original movie in the past three years.)

2004 - Disney's Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo is released on DVD.

2005 - It is reported that the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park (set to open in September) has already booked 10,000 room reservations for its hotel since it opened a customer call center three weeks ago.

2006 - Movie fans catch a sneak peek of Pixar's new computer-animated feature Cars. Disney offers the World Premiere of the new theatrical trailer on a variety of broadcast outlets, basic cable channels, internet sites, and in person at the Disney Theme Parks, ESPN Zones, Disney Stores, and on the ABC SuperSign in Times Square in New York City. (Cars is scheduled for a June 9 release.)

2008 - Disney's Block Party Bash makes its first public appearance at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. The parade features the Pixar family of characters in three segments - Toy Story, Monsters Inc and A Bug's Life, with The Incredibles making an appearance at the parade's finale.

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