Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Today in Music History for Dec. 5: In 1791, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at age 35. He was buried in an unmarked grave in Vienna’s St. Marx Cemetery. Mozart’s final resting place has remained undiscovered to this day.

Today in Music History for Dec. 6: (Editors: Some reference books give Dec. 6th or 7th, 1877, as the date Thomas Edison made the first recording on his newly-invented phonograph. Others say the historic recording was made Aug.

Today in Music History for Dec. 4: In 1927, Duke Ellington’s band began a four-year engagement at the famous Cotton Club in New York. Among the Ellington classics to emerge from this period were "Creole Love Call" and "Black and Tan Fantasy.

Today in History for Dec. 3: In 1170, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, returned to England after six years of exile in France. He would be martyred on Dec. 29 -- killed by soldiers sent by his former friend, King Henry II.

Celebrity Birthdays for Nov. 22: Comedian-director Terry Gilliam (Monty Python) is 84. Actor Tom Conti is 83. Singer Jesse Colin Young (The Youngbloods) is 83. Retired NASA astronaut Guion Bluford is 82.

Today in History for Nov. 22: In 1718, the English pirate Blackbeard was killed during a battle off the Virginia coast.

Today in Music History for Nov. 22: In 1899, songwriter, singer and actor Hoagy Carmichael, composer of the standards "Star Dust" and "Georgia on My Mind," was born in Bloomington, Ind. "Star Dust" was Carmichael's first major success.

Celebrity Birthdays for Nov. 21: Actor Laurence Luckinbill is 90. Actress Marlo Thomas is 87. Actor Rick Lenz is 85. Actress Juliet Mills ("Passions," ''Nanny and the Professor") is 83. Songwriter David Porter ("Soul Man") is 83.

Today in History for Nov. 21: In 1766, the first theatre in the U.S. -- the "Southfork" -- opened in Philadelphia. In 1783, the first free flight was made by two men who rose 100 metres above Paris in a hot-air balloon.

Today in Music History for Nov. 21: In 1877, Thomas Edison announced he invented a "talking machine" -- something that became known as the phonograph. In 1941, songwriter David Porter was born in Memphis.