1924 - Cartoonist Tony Sgroi is born in Massachusetts. He will go on to create such Disney comics for Dell Publishing as Robin Hood, Stormy the Thoroughbred, Young Davy Crockett, Man in Space, Mars and Beyond and Spin & Marty. (He will also work as a storyboard artist, layout and model designer for Hanna-Barbera, UPA, Warner Bros., and Filmation.)

1927 - Disney's seventh Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film The Ocean Hop premieres at the Colony Theater in New York City.

1930 - Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Monkey Melodies, directed by Bert Gillett, is released.

1936 - Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Three Blind Mousketeers, directed by David Hand, is released.

1948 - Singer-actress Olivia Newton-John, whose version of "Part of Your World" appears on the CD Disney's Music From The Park, is born in Cambridge, England.

1953 - Walt Disney phones artist Herb Ryman at his home to inquire about the possibility of Ryman drawing the first overall concept sketch of a new theme park. (Walt's brother Roy is to leave for New York in a few days to meet with possible investors.) The work Walt and Herb will do together over the upcoming "lost weekend" will help define the look of Disneyland and later hopefully intrigue investors. (Ryman, a master artist and teacher will have a career spanning more than fifty years as a production designer, art director and illustrator at many top Hollywood studios.)

1956 - The Disneyland television series airs episode 50 - "Searching for Nature's Mysteries" (a part-preview, part-making-of the featurette Secrets of Life).

1962 - Actor Patrick Bristow is born in Los Angeles, California. Fans of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody know him for his role of Patrick the sarcastic maître d' for the Tipton Hotel's restaurant. Bristow also appeared in an episode of That's So Raven.

1962 - Almost Angels, a Disney film about a group of boys in the Vienna Boys' Choir, is released.

1967 - Compass East Corporation (the company responsible for purchasing the Florida land for the new Disney World theme park) is renamed Walt Disney World Company.

1981 - Walt Disney (a new version of the popular long-running series that first started out on ABC in 1954 as Disneyland) premieres on CBS with part one of the 1969 hit The Love Bug. It is the first time the series airs on a Saturday. (This makes Disney's show the first prime-time series to have appeared on all three major networks!)

1984 - Disney World's Frontier Shooting Gallery changes its name to Frontierland Shootin' Arcade.

1986 - The Magic Eye Theater (presented by Kodak) opens at Disneyland's Tomorrowland.

1993 - Kraft ends its sponsorship of EPCOT's The Land pavilion. Nestle will take over the following day.

1995 - Walt Disney Records releases The Music of Disney's Cinderella. Released in conjunction with the 1995 video release of Cinderella, this album is not the original soundtrack recording - but a contemporary version of the original music.

2000 - Wild Life, a Disney animated feature originally to be released in 2002, is put into turnaround (or cancelled). Described as a retro-1960's New York version of My Fair Lady, some of the Disney staff believe the story is not strong enough.

2000 - Filming begins for the Lizzie McGuire episode "When Moms Attack" (which will air on Disney Channel January 26, 2001).

2001 - Disney's touring production of Beauty and the Beast opens at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado. (The show will run through October 7th.)

2001 - Disney World hosts the seventh annual Latin Rhythm Nights Festival at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island.

2001 - It is reported that Richard W. Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, has been elected (along with 4 others) to the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital Foundation's board of trustees. The hospital is a recognized world leader in research, teaching, and patient care in orthopedic medicine. (Cook began his career in 1970 as a ride operator at Disneyland.)

2004 - Walt Disney World's theme parks close for the day as Hurricane Jeanne strikes Florida! Jeanne is the tenth named storm, the seventh hurricane, and the fifth major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. (Millions in Florida will be left without electricity.)

2006 - Acoustic Hearts of Winter, a Christmas album from Disney pop artists Aly & AJ, is released on Hollywood Records. The first single from the album "Greatest Time Of Year" is being used as a promotion for the Tim Allen feature The Santa Clause 3. Also released on Hollywood Records is the album V, Vanessa Hudgens's debut album. The actress is the first High School Musical cast member to release an album.

2008 - The 13th annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival kicks off its six-week run at Disney World.

__________________