Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Today in Music History for Feb. 10: In 1939, singer Roberta Flack was born in Asheville, N.C. She had a half-dozen ballad hits in the 1970s, including three No.

Today in Music History for Jan. 26: In 1859, the Victoria Philharmonic Society was founded. It was the first amateur musical organization in what now is British Columbia.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 26: Cartoonist Jules Feiffer is 95. Sports announcer-actor Bob Uecker is 90. Actor Scott Glenn is 85. Activist Angela Davis is 80. Actor Richard Portnow (``Trumbo,'' ''The Sopranos``) is 77.

Today in History for Jan. 26: In 1500, the mouth of the Amazon River in South America was discovered by Vicente Yanez Pinzon, a veteran of Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the New World.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 25: Actress Leigh Taylor-Young (``Peyton Place,'' ''Soylent Green``) is 79. Larry Good, of the Canadian country group the Good Brothers, is 72. Andy Cox, guitarist with The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals, is 68.

Today in Music History for Jan. 25: In 1899, (Sleepy) John Estes, an important early bluesman, was born in Ripley, Tenn. He played on the streets of Memphis in the 1920s, supporting himself by working the night shift at a trainyard.

Today in History for Jan. 25: In AD 749, Emperor Leo IV of Byzantium was born. He led the Eastern Christian Church away from iconoclasm and towards a restoration of icons.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 24: Fiddler Doug Kershaw is 88. Singer Ray Stevens is 85. Singer Aaron Neville is 83. Singer Neil Diamond is 83. Actor Michael Ontkean (``Twin Peaks'') is 78. Country singer-songwriter Becky Hobbs is 74.

Today in History for Jan. 24: In 1076, Germany's Henry IV convened the synod of Worms to secure the deposition of Pope Gregory VII. It charged the pontiff with serious crimes and called upon Rome to depose him. Henry was later excommunicated.

Today in Music History for Jan. 24: In 1941, singer-songwriter-actor Neil Diamond was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.