Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 18: Movie director John Boorman is 91. Jazz pianist and bassist Don Thompson is 84. Singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro is 83. Comedian-singer Brett Hudson of the Hudson Brothers is 71. Actor-director Kevin Costner is 69.

Today in History for Jan. 18: In 1535, Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistador, founded Lima, Peru.

Today in Music History for Jan. 18: In 1908, composer Henry Herbert Godfrey, who wrote some of Canada's most popular patriotic songs at the turn of the century, died in Montreal at the age of 50.

Today in History for Jan. 17: In AD 356, Antony of Egypt, considered the founder of Christian monasticism, died at age 105.

Today in Music History for Jan. 17: In 1927, sultry nightclub singer Eartha Kitt was born in Columbia, S.C. Her real birth date wasn't known until 1997, when students at Benedict College in Columbia tracked down her birth certificate.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 17: Actor James Earl Jones is 93. Talk show host Maury Povich is 85. Singer Chris Montez is 82. French singer-songwriter Francoise Hardy is 80. Actress Joanna David ("Downton Abbey") is 77.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 16: Author William Kennedy is 96. Author-editor Norman Podhoretz is 94. Opera singer Marilyn Horne is 90. Hall of Fame auto racer A.J. Foyt is 89. Singer Barbara Lynn is 82. Country singer Ronnie Milsap is 81.

Today in Music History for Jan. 16: In 1849, Stephen Humbert, who in 1801 compiled the first English-language collection of vocal music, died in Saint John, N.B. at the age of 82.

Today in History for Jan. 16: In 1543, the British Parliament prohibited any ``women or artificer's prentices, journeymen, servingmen of the degree of yeoman, or under, husbandmen or labourers to read the New Testament in English.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 15: Actress Margaret O'Brien ("Meet Me In St. Louis") is 87. TV and radio personality Dini Petty is 79. Retired ballerina Veronica Tennant is 78. Actress Andrea Martin is 77.