1513 - Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León discovers Florida while searching for gold and the mythical Fountain of Youth. He names the land "Pascua Florida" (Spanish for "Flowery Easter") because he and his crew first spot the land on this day - Palm Sunday. Many historians believe Ponce de León was the very first European to set foot in Florida. (Pascua Florida Day, April 2, is a legal holiday in the Sunshine State.)

1805 - Writer Hans Christian Anderson - known for his many classic fairy tales including "The Little Mermaid" and "The Little Matchgirl" - is born in Odensk, on the Danish island of Funen, Denmark. Andersen's fairy tales of fantasy with moral lessons are still popular today with children and adults all over the world.

1899 - Disney Legend (class of 1999), film pioneer & engineering wiz Bill Garity is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will help put sound into Steamboat Willie, perfect the multiplane camera - a device (first created by Ub Iwerks) used to give depth to animation, and co-invent Fantasound (along with sound mixer John Hawkins) - an innovative stereo system installed in theaters for Fantasia - now known as surround sound.

1908 - Actor Buddy Ebsen, who portrays George Russel in Disney's Davy Crockett films and TV shows, is born. He also appears in such TV specials as the 1973 Walt Disney: A Golden Anniversary Salute, the 1978 NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney, and the 2001 Walt: The Man Behind the Myth. He'll be inducted a Disney Legend in 1993. (TV fans will remember Ebsen as Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies and as a private investigator on Barnaby Jones.)

1920 - Actor & TV producer Jack Webb is born in Santa Monica, California. In 1948 Webb will agree to help finance the construction of a large stage at his friend Walt Disney's studio lot, in exchange for production space for his new show. The Disney Studio's Stage 2 will be completed in 1949 and become the first home to Webb's long-running Dragnet.

1928 - Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit black & white silent short Sagebrush Sadie is released.

1930 - Clarabelle Cow first appears in the Mickey Mouse comic strip.

1930 - Actor Roddy Maude-Roxby is born in London, England. He is the voice of Edgar Balthazar - Madame Bonfamille's avaricious, but slightly comic butler - in Disney's 1970 The Aristocats.

1934 - Ward Kimball (who will become one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") starts work at the Disney Studio as an apprentice. Within 5 years he will become one of the studio's top animators. Among his most famous creative achievements will be ... Jiminy Cricket!

1940 - Walt Disney Productions offers shares in the company to the public for the first time. 155,000 shares of preferred stock are offered at $25 per share and 600,000 of common stock for $5 per share.

1943 - Disney's Private Pluto, the first Chip & Dale cartoon, is released.

1945 - Actress Linda Hunt, the voice of Grandmother Willow in Disney's 1995 release Pocahontas, is born in Morristown, New Jersey.

1954 - Plans for the Disneyland Park and TV show are announced when ABC and Disney Boards approve ownership and financing. Walt states that the TV series will begin in October 1954 and the park will open in July 1955. The TV show will be patterned after the different "lands" of his new California theme park.

1954 - Disney and ABC sign an agreement regarding the building of "Disneylandia." ABC advances Disney $500,000 in cash and guarantees all bank loans. In exchange, ABC receives 35% ownership of Disneylandia, 100% of all profits from the park's food concessions for 10 years, and an 8-year commitment from Disney for use of its library of films to be aired as one-hour television programs.

1961 - The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Zorro: Auld Acquaintance."

1967 - Walt Disney's final introduction on his Wonderful World of Color TV series airs. (Walt had died less than 4 months earlier and there will be no regular host for the remainder of the anthology's original run.)

1974 - "The Way We Were" (written by Marvin Hamlisch and Alan & Marilyn Bergman) from the film The Way We Were beats out "Love" (written by George Bruns and Floyd Huddleston) from Disney's Robin Hood at the 1973 Academy Awards.

1975 - Deedee Magno, a member of Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club (and a member of the Broadway cast of "Miss Saigon") is born in Virginia.

1977 - The New Mouseketeers appear at Disneyland for the first day of a series of live Easter Week shows.

1982 - Disney re-releases Fantasia for the 8th time since its 1940 original release. The soundtrack has been digitally re-recorded making it the first motion picture with digital stereo sound.

1984 - Tokyo Disneyland welcomes its 10-millionth guest - just 2 weeks short of the park's first anniversary!

1997 - At a ceremony in Manhattan, Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Rudi Giuliani the mayor of New York City, and George Pataki the governor of New York State, unveil Disney's restored New Amsterdam Theatre (at 214 West 42nd Street).

2001 - Spectromagic returns to the Magic Kingdom after a 2-year hiatus at Walt Disney World. The parade features an array of flowing fiber optics; holographic images, liquid-nitrogen smoke; and old-fashioned twinkle lights, precisely choreographed to an exciting original soundtrack which uses dashes of classic Disney tunes.

2002 - In the strongest signs yet that tourism is recovering from pre-September 11 levels, it is reported that Disney World had record-setting attendance over the Easter holiday weekend.

2004 - Disney's 44th animated feature Home on the Range is released. Set in the old west, the plot centers on a mismatched trio of dairy cows (voiced by Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench and Jennifer Tilly) who must capture an infamous cattle rustler. Many believe it will be the last hand drawn Disney film.

2004 - A Tower of Terror Media Preview is held at Disney's California Adventure. (The attraction will open in May.)

2005 - Raven, star of Disney Channel's hit series That's So Raven, wins a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award for Favorite TV Actress.

2005 - Academy Award-winning actress Hayley Mills (star of such Disney classics as Pollyana, The Parent Trap! and In Search of the Castaways) addresses the Arizona Girl Scouts, Cactus Pine Council, at their first annual "Pollyanna Days" celebration.

2007 - Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, a Disney World attraction in Tomorrowland, opens. Replacing the Circle-Vision attraction The Timekeeper, the attraction is based upon the Disney/Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. and features the characters Mike Wazowski and Roz.

2008 - St. Ann's Warehouse (in Brooklyn, New York) stages a 20th anniversary gala concert of Hal Willner's album of Disney covers, "Stay Awake" - originally released in 1988. The fundraiser, entitled Stay Awake Live, features popular artists reinterpreting tunes from the Disney songbook.

2008 - Disney Channel begins broadcasting in high-definition.

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