Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 26: Actor-director Bill Duke is 81. Actress Marta Kristen ("Lost in Space") is 79. Singer Mitch Ryder is 79. British pop vocalist Sandie Shaw is 77. Keyboardist Jonathan Cain of Journey is 74. Singer Michael Bolton is 71.

Celebrity Birthdays for Feb. 25: Actress Ann McCrea (``The Donna Reed Show'') is 93. Actor Tom Courtenay (``Dr. Zhivago'') is 87. CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 87. Actress Diane Baker is 86.

Today in History for Feb. 25: In 616 (traditional date): Ethelbert, first Christian English king and instigator of the first written code of British law, died.

Today in Music History for March 2: In 1942, Charlie Christian, the man responsible for making the guitar a lead instrument rather than just a part of the rhythm section, died in New York of tuberculosis. He was only 25.

Today in History for March 1: In 589 (traditional date): David of Wales, patron saint of Wales, died. In 1562, Roman Catholic troops killed Protestants at Vassy, France, in an incident that precipitated the Wars of Religion.

Today in History for Feb. 27: In 380, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official faith of the Roman Empire. In 425, Roman Emperor Theodosius II founded the first university in the western world in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey.

Today in History for Feb. 26: On this date: In 398, John Chrysostom, considered by scholars as the greatest preacher of the early church, was appointed bishop of Constantinople. His preaching earned him the name Chrysostom: "golden-mouth.

Today in History for Feb. 28: On this date: In 1759, for the first time, Pope Clement XIII permitted the Bible to be translated and made available in the languages of all peoples in the Roman Catholic states.

Today in Music History for Feb. 28: In 1929, Montreal-born Wilfrid Pelletier became a regular conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, a position he held until 1950.

Today in Music History for Feb. 27: In 1924, Sir Henry Thornton, president of the CNR, opened radio station CNRO in Ottawa. It was one of a series of CNR operated studios that opened across the country.