1907 - Animator & teacher Art Babbitt is born in Omaha, Nebraska. He will join Disney in 1932 and over the next 9 years work on many animated projects. Babbitt will animate the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Geppetto in Pinnochio, and the Stork in Dumbo. He will best be remembered for escalating Goofy to stardom by giving the character a unique mannerism and a rather clumsy walk in such shorts as Mickey's Service Station and Moving Day. Honest, straightforward, and sometimes confrontational, Babbitt was inspired to become an animator when he saw Ub Iwerks work on the 1930 Skeleton Dance. (Babbitt will be named a Disney Legend in 2007.)

1910 - Legendary Disney producer-writer-director & narrator Winston Hibler is born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He will go on to narrate many of Disney's live-action documentaries, produce the Disneyland TV series, and make contributions to such classic features as Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. Hibler's best known piece of work ... Walt Disney's opening day Disneyland speech!

1945 - Felix Salten, Austrian author best known for "Bambi" and "The Hound of Florence" passes away in Zurich, Switzerland. First written in 1923, "Bambi" was translated into English in 1928 and became a Book-of-the-Month Club hit. In 1933, Salten sold the film rights to American film director Sidney Franklin for $1,000, who later transferred the rights to the Walt Disney Studios. Disney released its movie based on Bambi in 1942. Salten's stories "Perri" and "The Hound of Florence" inspired the Disney films Perri and The Shaggy Dog.

1957 - The Maxwell House Coffee House located on Disneyland's Main Street (in operation since December 1955) closes. It will be replaced by Hills Brothers Coffee House in June 1958.

1961 - The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 2 of "The Horsemasters."

1993 - The inaugural hockey game of the Disney-owned Mighty Ducks is held at the Anaheim Pond in California. (Disney will sell the franchise in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, who will change the name of the team to Anaheim Ducks.)

1996 - A full-service spa and health center opens at Disney World's Grand Floridian Beach Resort. First opened in June 1988, it will now be called Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

1999 - The documentary film The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story is released in Los Angeles for one week (so that it may qualify for an Academy Award). The film focuses on animation pioneer, technical genius, and early Walt Disney collaborator Ub Iwerks.

2001 - Epcot's Journey into Your Imagination ride closes for renovations. The character Figment will be added and the attraction will reopen in June 2002 as Journey into Imagination with Figment.

2002 - Walt: The Man Behind The Myth (originally broadcast on TV in September 2001) is released on DVD, as is a special edition of Beauty and the Beast.

2003 - Mickey's PhilharMagic, a new computer-animated 3-D attraction, has its official grand opening in the PhilharMagic Concert Hall at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Pop idols Howie Dorough of The Backstreet Boys and Joey Fatone of 'N Sync are on hand for the premiere.

2003 - Over at Epcot, the Wayne Brady Show tapes at the American Gardens Stage. Guests include tennis star Serena Williams, soap opera heartthrob Cameron Matheson, astronaut Jim Lovell, and members of the original Brady Bunch Show.

2003 - In the evening, the Magic Kingdom hosts a live performance of the Brian Setzer Orchestra on the Castle Forecourt stage. Afterwards the park officially debuts a new pyrotechnic show called Wishes. The Disney World premiere includes an introduction by actress Julie Andrews.

2003 - At Disneyland, The Golden Horseshoe Variety Show performs it's final show at 5:30 pm after more than 4,000 performances. Guests at the final performance include Wally Boag, star of the original Golden Horseshoe Revue for over 27 years.

2004 - "Halloween," the fifteenth Phil of the Future episode, airs for the first time on Disney Channel. It is directed by Fred Savage (best known for his role of Kevin on the hit series The Wonder Years).

2008 - Disney's multi-platinum recording group The Cheetah Girls (Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams) launch their nationwide "The Cheetah Girls One World Tour" with a show in Austin, Texas. The 50-date nationwide concert tour follows the soundtrack and third Disney Channel Original Movie, "The Cheetah Girls One World."

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