Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 23: Actor Ronnie Schell ("Gomer Pyle, USMC") is 93. Emperor Akihito of Japan is 91. Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) is 84. Actor-comedian Harry Shearer ("This Is Spinal Tap", "The Simpsons") is 81.

Today in History for Dec. 23: In 1771, Mother Marie Marguerite D'Youville, the founder of the Grey Nuns or Sisters of Charity, died in Montreal.

Today in Music History for Dec. 23: In 1893, the Engelbert Humperdinck opera "Haensel und Gretel" was first performed, in Weimar, Germany. In 1935, singer Little Esther Phillips was born in Galveston, Texas.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 22: Actor Hector Elizondo is 88. Country singer Red Steagall is 86. Former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard is 86. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton is 80. Former TV news anchor Diane Sawyer is 79.

Today in History for Dec. 22: In 1216, Pope Honorius III officially approved the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), founded in the same year by St. Dominic.

Today in Music History for Dec. 22: In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, and Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, also known as the "Pastoral Symphony," had their world premieres in Vienna, Austria.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 21: Former governor-general Edward Schreyer is 89. Actress Jane Fonda is 87. Actor Larry Bryggman is 86. Singer Carla Thomas is 82. Guitarist Albert Lee is 81. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is 80.

Today in Music History for Dec. 21: In 1672, Benjamin Schmolck, German Lutheran clergyman and prolific hymn writer, was born. Though a busy pastor, he found time to pen 900 hymns, the best remembered of them being "My Jesus, As Thou Wilt.

Today in History for Dec. 21: In 1266, the last stand of the first English parliamentarians ended when rebels surrendered Kenilworth Castle to the king after a six-month siege.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 25: Author Anne Roiphe is 89. Jazz keyboardist Bob James is 85. Actress Hanna Schygulla ("Barnum," ''Casanova") is 81. Singer John Edwards of The Spinners is 80. Actor Gary Sandy ("WKRP In Cincinnati") is 79.